I Only Want To Forget 2
by Dr34mer
Summary: sequel: the story of what happened to Chihiro when she left Haku after promising to stay, and why. what will Haku do when he finds out? how will he react? Read and Review please! rated for language and other contents...
1. how it began

I Only Want To Forget 2 is here!!

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Chihiro sighed. It was not the first time she had been summoned to the principal's office.

But of course it wasn't _her_ that was going to be punished, it was Minako. Minako, her thirteen-year-old daughter. She was indeed beautiful, emerald green eyes and Chihiro's fluffy brown hair.

Minako entered pouting, this was all getting old to her. Principal Stanford walked behind her until she got to her seat, then sat behind his desk. The solemn look on his face told her that this was the last straw. He was grimacing at Minako in frustration. "Miss. Ogino, you realise that another offence like this could lead to Minako's expulsion. The school cannot tolerate this any longer," he said, he turned his attention to the student. "what you have to say for yourself?"

Minako, who had her arms folded, side-smiled. "damn, that was fun."

"Minako, don't be rude!" Chihiro ordered.

"swearing at teachers, vandalising school property and running away is not fun, young lady, it is a serious matter that, if you're not careful, could get you into serious trouble!" the principal said, rising from his chair.

"and who are you? My father?"

"Minako!" her mother shouted.

"Minako," said principal Stanford. "I understand the situation you are in, but that is no excuse to behave this way. You should at least be making an effort!"

"and what if I don't want to?! What if I _want_ to leave this shitty school?!" she stood and marched to the door. But before slamming the door shut, she turned and said: "just forget my existence."

"Minako!" Chihiro called after her. "Minako, come back here!"

"Miss. Ogino, I'm afraid I'll have to suspend your daughter for at least a week."

"no! please, give her one more chance!" she begged, knowing that her daughter wont change her ways. She never really has.

Minako was a smart child but didn't think she needed to try. The school work was all too easy for her. All the teachers knew this but still pushed her, trying to find and stretch her limits. But the truth was that Minako didn't _want_ to cause trouble really.

It was more of an attention thing; growing up with everyone around her boasting about how great their dad was or what they got for birthday presents made her jealous in a way. Chihiro's job at the diner in town didn't pay too much so she couldn't afford to buy her big and expensive gifts.

The only gift Minako wanted had nothing to do with money… she wanted fatherly love.

As Minako ran out of the school doors, she shot her eyes from left to right, wondering where she could run off to this time. The school bell went about half an hour ago so there was no-one to snitch on her, thankfully.

She staggered to wherever she could until she found a peaceful looking spot by a river that she had never noticed before. On the other side where what seemed to be apartments, pretty olds ones by the looks of it. She sat on the grass area and stared out to the horizon. She exhaled as if all of her problems could just blow away, forgotten.

"why do you do this?"

Minako gasped and turned to see Hotaka, the boy in her class that was really popular. He looked at her with green eyes – which were slightly paler than her own - his cute ginger hair stroking his face.

"what?" was all that could escape her mouth at the time.

"why do you always break the rules or cause trouble?"

she huffed and turned away from his gaze. "what's it to you? Just suddenly happen to be interested in my affairs? Besides, it's non of your business…"

Hotaka smiled weakly and sat beside her, making Minako feel edgy – which, by the way, he was fully aware of. She had never really gotten close to a boy ever before. "no, it's just… you're never normally around here."

"what are you, a paedophile?"

"no… I come here nearly everyday and frankly, this place is deserted. Now, what would someone as beautiful as you be doing in a place like this?"

"I told you, it non of your business, pervert!" she stood and clenched her fists. "I've seen the way you and your friends stare at the girls with really short skirts-"

"and why were you staring at us? Just looking in our general direction?"

Minako pouted and folded her arms. "you're a bastard, you know that?"

She attempted to leave but he grabbed her wrist, forcing her to turn back to him. "I was just kidding. Are you coming back here tomorrow?"

She freed herself, sighing. "if I'm not grounded for the rest of my life…"

He snatched her wrist again.

"what?" she whined.

Hotaka smiled. "take care."

Her eyes shot up in surprise; out of all the other people in the world, what makes this one give her the feeling of protection? She ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She decided: if there's a punishment for her actions, it could never be as bad as the pain she feels inside.

Minako carried on running, eyes closed now, trying to hold back her tears. Without realising it, she was knocked to the ground. Her eyes opened again and there was a tall man, dark hair and a well toned body.


	2. the return

Thank you, wonderful readers and reviewers!

Sorry about making the last story so sad, it gave me a really good story line! And Chihiro has been away from Taro for thirteen years… in case you didn't understand from the last story… you will when this is over!

"drop-off-ending-y" I love that word, herbblade!

I drew a picture of Minako on MS Paint but I don't know if it'll turn up on this program… if you can't see it, it should have been on the right of the page.

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"watch where you're going, asshole!" she yelled, picking herself up and shoving him by the shoulder.

"who ran into who, you little brat?" he retorted.

"oh, shut up!" Minako stomped off, deciding to head home.

The stranger narrowed his eyes at her, recognising something. But what? What made this girl – whom had just been so very rude to him – so familiar? Something in her face gave him the feeling of security, but that's impossible!

Minako arrived home and pushed the door of the apartment open. Her mother had already gotten home and was waiting patiently in the living room. The look of disappointment plastered on her face was not new to Minako.

"where have you been, Minako? Do you know how serious your behaviour is becoming? You got suspended as soon as you left the office, if this goes on, you'll be expelled!"

"I don't really give one, mom." She blankly stepped through the room.

Chihiro sighed. "but I do. You know how hard it is already, and you're just making things worse!"

Minako stood still, her face emotionless. Though her mother was right, the only thing she could think about was how crappy her life was. She said nothing and continued to stare into space.

"Minako!"

she remained deadly silent, hoping Chihiro would just give up. "Minako, if this doesn't end… I may even get you a psychiatrist."

She sighed and turned to face her. "mom, you know you can't afford that, so don't even try threatening me," she said.

"I know I can't at the moment, but I'll do whatever it takes. I just want to know what's wrong-"

"nothing is wrong!" Minako shouted. "I… I just want dad… that's all. I wish dad was here." Tears bubbled up in her eyes. "that's all I want… dad!"

Chihiro's face softened a little. What could she tell her now? How could she explain the truth? Was she really old enough to know? "Minako… I'm sorry. Your… your father…"

"what?" she asked, urging her to carry on. "what about him?" she was anxious now.

_Maybe I shouldn't have said anything. Now she won't rest until I tell her_, Chihiro thought. "he's…"

"what?! Is he dead? Just tell me, mom!" to Minako, knowing something like that wouldn't matter, as long as she knows about him. Or was it a divorce? She thought. _No, mom's too young. A one night stand, perhaps?_

Chihiro licked her suddenly dry lips. She opened her mouth to finally let it out, but she was not sure if Minako would believe her. Then there was a sudden knock at the door. She went to answer it as Minako's blood boiled with frustration. She was sure the world was against her.

Chihiro opened the door and gasped at the sight. Minako, who stayed in her position glanced form where she was. "you?! Are you stalking me or something?!"

Her mother, who was still panting in what looked like fear/surprise, shook her head in disbelief. The man standing before her; dark hair, emerald eyes and a well toned body. It was him.

"Chihiro?" he said as if he had just seen an angel.

She was too stunned to speak, yet scared as well. Without thinking, her feet retreated slowly until she fell onto the sofa, trying to breath properly.

"Chihiro, are you alright?" Taro asked, allowing himself in. he was actually dressed normally, like he'd always lived in the Human World; a white shirt – top button open and not tucked in – and greyish jeans. He lay a hand on her forehead and smiled when he was sure she was okay. "I missed you so much… why did you go?" he saw Minako staring in confusion. "and who the hell is she?"

"who the hell am I? I could ask you the same thing!" Minako returned, standing her mother in protection. "mom, who is that guy?"

"mom…?" Taro's eyes widened to Chihiro who was still recovering. "you… you have a _child_? I thought... I thought you loved me!"

"I-I do, Taro!" Chihiro managed. "it's not what you think at all!"

"mom, what's he talking about?"

she fought her tears and took several deep breaths. "… Taro, Minako is _your_ daughter…"

silence over come the room. Both Minako and Taro held equally shocked faces. "WHAT?!" Minako screamed. "you mean to tell me that this bastard is my _father_?! Thanks for nothing!" she picked herself up and stormed to her room, leaving the former couple behind.

"Chihiro… she can't be my daughter. I mean, we haven't even-"

"yes, we have." She reminded him with a certain look on her face. "remember Katsu?"

he looked as if he had stopped breathing for a moment. Remembering him was like fully swallowing a butcher's knife. But the hardest part was knowing that Chihiro was being raped by Katsu in _his_ body. She was being attacked under his nose and he could do nothing to stop it. "how could I forget?"

she smiled weakly. "that's why I left. I was afraid you'd get mad-"

"why would I get mad? You know I love you with all my heart!"

"it's not that… I thought you'd hate the fact that you have a child but never know the feeling of knowing it's yours. Plus, you were already in a bad mood."

He looked to his side and smiled. "you still haven't changed… always thinking things through to the last detail…"

Chihiro watched him, trying to remember how it first felt to know she was in love. The green eyes of comfort she fell for and the arms she longed to fall asleep in. "not exactly. I didn't think how it would affect you…"

"all that matters is that I found you. I don't care as long as we're together…" he leaned in for a kiss. It was like it was their first kiss, awkward and exciting.

"Taro…" she began, in between breaths. "what about… Minako…? She's… your daughter…!"

"I know…" he pulled away from Chihiro and examined her expression. It looked as though she were begging him to do this for her. He sighed. "Chihiro, I don't even think she remotely likes me!"

"she does! I know she does! She just… finds it hard to show emotions. She's missed you so much." She got up but her legs were still shaking, like she was still unsure if he would just vanish. "_I've_ missed you. Please, do your best to talk to her… it would mean a lot to me."

He glanced at Minako's bedroom door then back to the woman he loved. Inhaling with bravery, he got to his feet and hesitated slightly but eventually agreed.


	3. the bonding session

"go away!" Minako repeated, started to get weary of the same response.

Taro knocked again, getting harder every time. He had thought of giving up about ten minutes but always gave in to the puppy-dog eyes Chihiro made. _How does she do this to me?_ He thought, cursing his feelings. "Minako, I just want to talk!" he called, continuing to knock very loudly.

"well I don't!" she responded. "just go away! What part of that don't you understand?!"

Taro sighed, considering the white flag – which seemed like a very attractive option. He didn't need to see Chihiro's face anymore since it was now on his conscience. _Who would have thought that my own daughter could be such a spoilt brat? She's not even spoilt!_ _How the hell does that work?!_ "Chihiro. She's not going to listen to me, and you know that as well as I do!"

"oh, I know." She smiled in her I-know-what-I'm-doing way. Then she said a little louder so Minako could hear her. "don't worry, she's been suspended for a week and I think that's enough time, don't you? I mean you don't mind knocking for the next seven days, right?"

a look of horror washed over Taro and he suddenly began knocking furiously like he'd been trying to maul his way out of hell. "Minako, please! Open the door so we can get this over and done with!" he begged, sounding desperate.

"why should I?"

"because I'm your father!" he stated, firmly.

Minako didn't respond this time. Taro awaited for another scream of "you bastard!" but didn't get one this time. He ran a hand through his hair in exhaustion and turned towards Chihiro. She was no longer pushing him. Then a small and slow creak came from behind him. He was soon facing a quite short green-eyed girl with an expression of defiance.

He paused a moment, wondering if this was really happening. He soon smiled and followed her into the room, shutting the door for some _quality_ father and daughter time. No mothers allowed.

"_Yes_!" she whispered to herself, slumping herself onto the sofa.

(Minako's room)

Taro examined her room intently. She didn't own many things, but it seemed cosy.

"so what do you want?"

"well, first off, you should show more respect towards your elders." Taro enjoyed the feeling of control. He mentally smiled in satisfaction.

"listen, you can't just walk in here and take over!"

"don't burst my bubble!" he ordered.

"what?"

"… nothing…" he said quietly, suddenly feeling very small.

Minako looked at him awkwardly. Taro's sub-conscious didn't seem very proud of him either. _I'm an idiot, I'm an idiot, I'm an idiot_, he recited. "okay… can we start over please?"

"too late. About thirteen years too late! You can't just walk out on us and then expect us to welcome you back!"

"hey, let's get one thing straight: I did not walk out on either of you. Chihiro walked out on me!" he informed her, sitting on the somewhat small bed.

Minako's voice was rising. "do you actually expect me to believe that load of shit?"

"watch your mouth," he warned, pointing his index finger at her. It only just occurred to him how his mother felt.

"then what's your story?" she folded her arms and waiting patiently.

He realised that Chihiro didn't tell her anything about the Spirit World but decided to tell her anyway. Just to see the look on her face. "well, I'm the spirit of the Kohaku River and I can transform into a dragon. I saved Chihiro because she went into the river to get her little pink shoe. A few years later, she came into the Spirit World and was working to Yubaba, owner of the bath house. We eventually managed to get free of her contract and she left for another six years.

"that's when I went back to get her but she tried to forget about everything that happened. I got her to remember but then we found out that I was possessed with an evil spirit called Katsu. Whenever he takes over my body, I can't do or remember anything that he did. And Katsu is the kind of guy that does what he wants when he wants. That's how you were conceived." Minako inserted a quick 'ew' before allowing him to carry on.

"after that, I put a curse on myself in hope to get rid of him. So while I was unconscious, your mother had leukaemia and was rushed to hospital. I regained my consciousness as fast as possible and rushed to see her. She told me what was wrong and I stayed by her side. Later, I found my long lost mother and she came to live with me but Chihiro stayed here for further treatment. She said she wanted me to go home to get some rest an promised she'd still be there when I got back… well… I was an idiot to believe that, so here we are."

Minako held her emotions, still staring at him. "you escaped from the mental institute, didn't you?"

Taro grinned. "would you believe me if I said I walked out after hearing you were on your way?"

"yup."

"then call me a liar, coz that's not true."

Minako grunted, throwing her hands up in the air. "MOM!" she cried.

"no! don't call her!" he shot up and covered her mouth.

Minako struggled free. "MOM!"

Taro grabbed and picked her up so she was hanging on her side, gagged by his hands. "quiet! We'll have to do this again if we don't at least make her think we've gotten to know each other!"

Minako released her mouth for a split second. "MO-"

"shut up!"

Chihiro poked her head through the door. "you two bonded yet?" her eyes widened at the sight of Taro carrying his daughter like she was about to be kidnapped. "apparently not…"


	4. EW!

Sorry it took longer than it usually would but I had exams and, thanks to my parents, I have to take a retest in cookery which isn't fair coz I'm really good at that! Waaaaaaaaa! It's not fair!!

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Minako had her arms folded, not willing to face him. Taro was sprawled over the armchair with his head hanging over the top edge. Chihiro just smiled in the awkward silence that took over. It was more of an I-know-I-look-like-an-idiot-like-this-but-hopefully-they'll-say-something-to-each-other smile. It wasn't working though. Minako was as stubborn as a mule and she got that from her mother. Plus she had Taro's temper… a very bad combination.

"Mom, I'm going out," Minako stated, rising.

Chihiro got up before her to block her way to the door. "No, you're not, Minako, you're grounded!"

"Mom! I've got to go meet someone today!" she shouted back.

"Well you should've thought about that before you got suspended!"

Minako dropped back down to her seat with her arms folded. "How could I? Hotaka asked me-"

"Hotaka?" Chihiro said, quite puzzled. "So this is about a boy? A boy you didn't even tell me about? How long have you been going out?" more questions came queuing up in Chihiro's head by the second.

"Mom! He isn't my boyfriend, and we haven't been going out! We're just friends!" for some reason it felt good to finally be able to call someone a friend. But the strange thing was, they weren't really friends, Hotaka was just a boy. Nothing more to her.

"Ah," said Taro, finally keeping track. "Denial… the beginning of dragon puberty." He raised a hand to his heart and pretended to cry. "I'm so proud." He ended with a few fake sniffles before sighing.

Minako's emotions held back, which either meant she was thinking or just confused. "Say _what_? Did you say _dragon_ puberty? Mom, where'd you pick this guy up?"

Taro side-smiled. Chihiro was equally confused as her daughter. "You see," Taro began. "You're my kid – unfortunately – so you're obviously going be a dragon like me. Soon enough, you'll get your claws, fangs, and scales. It'll be quite quick and should happen quicker under pressure. I should know-"

"You don't seriously think I believe you, do you?" she inserted, one eyebrow higher than the other.

Chihiro was just as puzzled as her daughter and stared at Taro in hope of an explanation. He sighed, looking up at them both. "All dragons go through it; I did." (A/N: imagine this, Taro/Haku, puberty years!! ROFTLMAO!! It'd be scary... but oh-so CUTE!).

"EW - Why am I even having this conversation? Dragons and spirits my ass!" she stood and left, not giving Chihiro a chance to object.

She sighed. "I'm sorry, Taro. She's really stubborn sometimes..."

"Like you-"

"I am NOT stubborn!" she said, firmly.

Taro laughed. "I know you're not, and I love for it..."

Chihiro blushed, realizing what she'd done. "I'm not that stubborn, am I?" she asked, sitting closer to Taro.

He smiled, stretching and yawning himself to comfort on the sofa with his hands behind his head.

She suddenly gasped as she was thrust onto his lap, her hands against his chest to stop from actually lying flat on top of him. He was bringing their heads closer to each other.

His devilish smirk grew. "Well? Are you going to be stubborn?" he asked, their noses almost touching.

"I might..."

"Still gonna be stubborn?" their lips were almost touching now.

The door opened. "I forgot my - EW!" Minako screamed. "YOU SICK, _SICK_ PEOPLE!"

The couple stared up in shock. That wasn't expected, but Taro decided to take advantage of this moment; he wrapped fingers delicately but made it seem rough round the back of Chihiro's head and pulled her to his lips. Chihiro knew that he was only doing it to annoy Minako and it was working all too well.

"URGH! YOU BASTARD!" she slammed the door shut but couldn't get the image out of her mind.

"Taro, that was just plain evil!"

-star- -star- -star-

Minako arrived at the river she sat by yesterday and waited. But, of course, she didn't think of it as waiting; she wasn't waiting for Hotaka, she was just sitting there, like the first time. She wasn't expecting anything from him. After all, he was just a boy. She liked to think of herself as independent. She needed no-one and that was how it would stay. (A/N: GIRL POWER!)

"Am I late?" came a voice from behind her.

She didn't turn. "Why would you be late?"

"Well you were expecting me, weren't you?" he said, sitting down beside her.

She turned her head towards him. "You wish. I'm just here like I was yesterday. Was it just you expecting me?"

"You wish." he copied. "I'm just here like I am everyday. Beat that!"

She smiled to herself. "Smart-ass." Minako allowed herself to fall back on the long grass and gaze up at the clouds, sighing.

"What's up?"

"Hmm...?" she said, regaining consciousness.

"You seem distracted. What's on your mind?"

She grunted quietly. "Nothing, just my damned father came back and he's really getting on my nerves."

He smiled. "You're lucky; at least you've got a father."

"What d'you mean? Oh! He isn't... is he?"

"Yeah. He died of cancer last year..." his voice trailed off as he seemed to be lost in happy memories.

Right now, Minako's troubles didn't matter to her. A look of sorrow spread over her face as she watched Hotaka hold his smile. "I'm so sorry, Hotaka."

"Don't be!" he grinned, happily. "I believe everything happens for a reason. So... hopefully that reason'll come soon enough." he faced Minako who was also facing him but her eyes to her side.

Hotaka took this opportunity. "Will you go out with me?"

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Aww, he's too optimistic. Life aint really like that, though! Hotaka seems like such a pushover, unlike me, don't you agree? But if you disagree, that's okay, too!

Anyways, read and review please! You know, if you like it. Not that you wont! I mean, I hope you do!


	5. kiss of life

"excuse me?" Minako said, not completely believing what she'd just heard.

"well, yeah. The dance is in two weeks and I was kind of wondering if you'd like to go with me," he smiled again. _That damn smile_, Minako thought. _What is he, a puppy?_

"no," she answered. "I can't." Minako avoided his gaze as hard as she could.

She knew what his reaction would be as well: "why not?" and he did it in that little voice that makes you want to kick yourself for refusing.

"it's not that I don't like you… which I don't – in that way. It's just that… I kind of got suspended for a week." It may not have sounded like it, but that was all true. Students that got suspended weren't allowed to go to these sort of events. (A/N: well at least that's how I _think_ it works. So even if it isn't, it's for the sake of the story)

"oh," Hotaka said, his face lighting up a little. "well… I'm on the school council so I may be able to bend a few rules… what d'you think?" he suggested.

"no!" she insisted. "you'd probably get into trouble!"

he paused. That didn't sound believable to him. "you know I wont. What's the real reason? Why don't you want to go with me?"

_damn, he's smarter than the average fourteen-year-old guy._ "I do… I just…" Minako wondered what would be best, lie or tell the truth? Well, the truth was that she didn't have enough money for an outfit. Plus, she couldn't ask Taro; that would make him think she needed him. She exhaled quickly. "I can't go because I don't really have anything to wear either. And I can't really afford to buy one." she said, hoping he wasn't getting the wrong idea.

"is that it? Otherwise you'd go?"

she nodded meekly which made his grin grow. How could he be so damn happy all the time?

"Minako… I don't want to freak you out or anything," he started. "but I really like you. A lot. And I kind of… sort of… er, I guess what I'm trying to say is… do you mind if I kissed you?" he requested, one hand behind his head like he was ashamed of asking. His cheeks turned rosy and it was really cute for Minako to watch.

"you like me?" she smirked, bashfully. This opportunity was too good to pass off. "you want to kiss me?"

by this time, Hotaka was so red it looked as if he were about to burst. His head was bowed down so his hair was covering his eyes and all that was visible was the mouth he'd began to bite. "yeah… I'm sorry if you feel uncomfortable with that! You could just forget I said it, I mean, it was just…" Hotaka stopped. He had nothing, absolutely nothing to defend his dignity now. (A/N: I don't know about you but I think it's absolutely adorable when boys stumble like that!)

"what if I don't want that kiss?" this was so fun. "but I _do_ think you're kind of cute."

Hotaka looked up as he realized that she was toying with him. "you girls play evil mind games with us. Why is there no simple 'yes' or 'no' answer?"

"now, where would the fun be in that I ask you?" she joked. She'd never really used this type of humour before, and it was kind of fun to tease each other.

"you're a bitch, you know that?" Hotaka shoved her gently.

"and proud!" Minako kicked him really hard on the leg as pay-back.

He replied by shouting "OW!" before pinning her down like it was a wrestling match.

"ooh, someone's a sissy!" she provoked him.

He laughed victoriously. "don't worry, I'll go easy on you coz you're a girl – WHOA!" he was flipped onto his back so that it was the reverse of ten seconds ago.

"what was that?" she said, playfully. "something about going easy on me because I'm a _girl_? You sexist bast-"

they continued with the cycle of pinning each other down until Minako realized something. "Hotaka! Stop!" they'd been rolling down a hill leading to the river!

"I can't!" it felt as if they were stuck in a washing machine.

"we can't go into the river! We _can't_!"

"Minako, just swim-"

"I can't! I can't swim!!"

"WHAT?!" he shouted but it was too late. They fell in with a huge and painful splash.

Hotaka swam his way up to the surface and searched frantically. "Minako? MINAKO!?" he looked around himself one more time until he was sure were she was. His heart rate increased to record speed. "oh no…" he dived down but it was all blurry and hard to spot her in the dark water. Then, there she was! Sinking almost directly beneath him. He swam as fast as he could so that she was just about at arms length. He reached but his fingers only brushed against her.

He was soon going to run out of air. The air bubbles floated up from his mouth but he didn't want to give up. He couldn't let her…

A flash of what looked like grey in the water flew past him, and Minako was gone! He blinked hard to make sure but that only made his vision worse. As soon as he knew she was no longer there he opened his mouth to gasp but forgot he was underwater. Hotaka swam up to the surface as quickly as he could and inhaled deeply for air. "MINAKO!" he yelled.

At the edge of the river was a dark haired man leaning over Minako, both drenched. Hotaka called her name once more, not caring who the guy was, as long as she was safe. Minako was unconscious. Hotaka crawled out of the water and hurried to her side, no matter how tired he was. "do you know CPR?" Hotaka asked the guy, panting.

"no…" he looked as if he were completely lost.

Hotaka wasn't sure what to do. He knew CPR but wasn't quite sure if he could do it properly. Then again, it was better than her dying. He held her nose shut and opened her mouth to connect it with his own. He blew his air in then shot up the stranger. "press against her chest whenever I stop!" he ordered.

They cooperated well then waited for Minako to wake up. There was a few minutes of silence then coughs that spurt out water. Minako screamed and shot up, gasping. "what are you doing here?" he interrogated to Taro.

"helping save your ungrateful ass!"

Hotaka noticed that they had the exact same eye colour. "wait, are you…?"

"yes, I'm her father and…" he unwillingly ended with a 'thanks' even though he already hated the boy's guts for laying a finger on his daughter. To Taro, it was Hotaka's fault in the first place for her almost drowning… even if Minako was the one that started it and he _did_ save her life.

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aw, Taro, you're such an ass!

Anyway, what did you think? Please review!!


	6. dragon puberty

Sorry if you think you don't actually know Chihiro very well in this story but she doesn't really have a huge part. It's mostly about Minako, Taro and Hotaka.

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"were you spying on me?!" Minako shouted as they entered the apartment.

"it's not _spying_… specifically," Taro said in his best attempt to defend himself.

"don't you have any respect? Can't you just stay out of my life?"

Chihiro, who had been sitting in the middle of this argument, decided to interrupt. "what happened?"

"your daughter almost died!" Taro explained. He knew Minako wouldn't want her mother to know so said it anyway.

"WHAT?!"

"mom, it's okay, I'm not dead, so there's nothing to worry about!" she insisted, throwing a death glare at Taro.

"what happened?" Chihiro demanded.

Minako refused to answer. "she was with that boy," so Taro did instead.

"shut up!" Minako screamed.

Chihiro gasped as soon as she heard 'that boy' and went running over to her daughter. "what did he do? Did he hurt you? Is he the one you went to meet?"

"mom! He didn't _do _anything! And he would never hurt me!" she wondered why she was trying so hard just to defend this guy. Then again, he was the closest thing to a friend she had ever really had. No, he was the closest thing to a _best_ friend she'd ever had.

"Minako, I want you to be careful! There's no telling what might happen. I don't want you to-"

"what? Get hurt? lose my virginity? Why can't you just trust me with the friends I make?"

Chihiro stopped and glanced up at Taro. She'd never told Minako what really happened; all she said was that she was a careless sixteen-year-old. Was she ready to know that it was assault? Would she believe it was assault? Well, of course she would. She'd believe anything if it were against her father.

"Minako… I'm not saying this boy is dangerous, I just don't want anything to happen. I thought your dad was harmless, and he was… but I didn't know about Katsu, the spirit that possessed him. I wasn't a careless teenager, I was raped."

"I knew it!" she said, turning to Taro. "I knew you were no good!"

"hey, I was possessed, gimme a break! I came looking for you, didn't I?"

Minako didn't want to hear anymore and marched off to her room. she was still damp and needed a shower from the dirty water. She got out a few clean clothes and left for the bathroom, pushing past Taro before he could get in first. He sighed and shook his head, returning to the sofa. "Chihiro, please say you don't want anymore kids," he called to the kitchen.

"why? You don't like your only daughter?"

"it's not that I don't like her, I just… okay, yeah, when you put it like that…"

Chihiro giggled to herself. "I know you love her, really! If you truly didn't like her, she would no longer be alive."

"too true," he agreed. It was true; he loved his daughter, no matter what. The only reason he provokes her so much is mainly for fun. Like they say, love your enemies – it pisses them off. (A/N: I was so tempted to write 'emenies' coz that's how I would say it normally… lolz!)

Chihiro walked in and sat facing him. "how did you know she was in trouble? You can't have been spying coz you were with me the whole time!"

"I thought you knew about this," he said… but obviously, that look told him that she didn't. "she has my eyes and, in the Spirit World, things are quite literal. So whenever I want to, I can see through her eyes."

"so you _were_ spying."

"no! I was too busy. I just sensed danger, like I did when you were sent to hospital. I was so worried about you," he added, leaning forward and hoping for a kiss before being pushed away.

"nuh-uh!" she said. "shower first, kissing later." Chihiro smiled.

"tease!" he stuck his tongue out at her.

Chihiro laughed. "you're still a child at heart, Taro!"

"AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!" came a scream from the bathroom, followed by Minako running out with a towel around herself, one arm thrust out in front of her. "MOM! THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH MY SKIN!"

Chihiro shot up in alarm and raced to her. Minako held her arm out to reveal a patch of skin, layered on top of each other and in a strange shape too. She gasped.

"what? What is it?" Minako said, frantically.

"Taro, look!" Chihiro called.

As soon as he came and saw her arm, Taro smiled. "my baby's growing up!" he said, pretending to sniffle.

"_what_?!" she was still unaware of the situation. "what's wrong with me?!"

"open your mouth," he ordered.

Minako, who was too afraid to argue, obeyed. Taro bent down so he could see properly. "aw! You look so cute!" he cooed.

She shut her mouth again. "WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?!" she demanded.

He turned to Chihiro and whispered in both pride and excitement. "do you have a camera? We need to capture this moment forever!"

"what the fuck are you going on about?!"

Chihiro laughed at them both. (A/N: you know Fruits Basket, don't you think I'm making Taro a little too much like Shigure? I love him! ahem, now back to the point) "sorry, no cameras, Taro."

He snapped his fingers. "darn the luck!"

"TELL ME!"

"you're getting your scaled and fangs!" he explained, then started to beg. "Let me see you hands!"

"no!"

"just one peek!" he grabbed her hand an let out a great big 'AWWW!'

"MOM!" she screamed, but Chihiro didn't dare stop the humour.

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so far no-one has guessed what MRF stands for... one clue: it's referring to my stupidity...


	7. a lesson in parenting

Minako awoke the next morning, hoping it would all be a dream. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and rose. She'd never felt so tired, especially after all that screaming – even coughing sounded hoarse. Minako swung one leg over the bed, then the other so she was facing her mirror and –

"AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!"

Chihiro and Taro woke up with a start. "Minako?" she said.

"ah, yes… and it begins…" Taro smiled to himself, sinking down back into the pillow.

Chihiro, on the other hand, staggered quickly to her daughter's aid. She burst through the door. "Minako, what…?" she stared at Minako, in surprise. Her face was covered in scales and had turned a milky kind of silver colour and plastered with fear. "Taro!" she called. "come quick!"

It wasn't for another three minutes until he slowly appeared at the door, eyes only half-open. He was only wearing his pants so it looked really cool when he leaned against the door frame. (A/N: for the last story, think of Taro with a Channing Tatum body, for this one, think of him with a Will Smith in I,Robot body) he yawned as if nothing was wrong. "huh? What's the problem?"

"what's the problem? _What's the problem_?! HOW ABOUT THE FACT THAT I'VE TURNED INTO A MONSTER BECAUSE OF YOU!" she screamed, throwing her pillow at him.

it flopped off of his face like he didn't feel a thing. "gee, thanks." He said, plainly.

Minako sighed, getting really frustrated. "just tell me, how to I get rid of this?" she asked, trying her best to refrain from shouting.

He looked up as if he was thinking and finally answered. "ah…!"

Her face lit up with hope. "what?"

"…choo," he laughed, joined by Chihiro.

Minako grabbed a second pillow and repeatedly whacked him with all her might. "this is not a joke! I look like a _lizard_!"

"dragon," he corrected.

"shut up!" she continued to hit him. "are you going to tell me how to go back to normal?!"

"not if I have to shut up."

"Taro!" Chihiro cut in. she had to admit, he was becoming very annoying. "just tell her!"

"can't a guy have some fun? alright, alright. All you really need to do is concentrate on your human form."

Minako glanced at her mother, unwilling to trust him. Chihiro nodded as if to tell her that she should at least give it a go. So she closed her eyes and got the image of herself in her head for a moment. She opened and turned quickly the mirror, but saw no change. "what the hell am I going to do now?! It hasn't worked!"

She picked up her pillow and began to whack Taro again. "how can you not get something as simple as that wrong?" he said, shielding himself with nothing but his hands. "I mean, all you have to do is picture a fat girl with acne that has blonde hair and blue eyes-"

"I am not fat! I have clear skin! My hair is brown, not blonde, brown! And I have emerald eyes, you-"

"Minako!" Chihiro said in delight.

"_what_?!" she shouted, frustrated that she was stopped from killing her father.

"look!"

Minako glimpsed in the mirror, dropping the pillow and running to check it was real. She had turned back to normal; her skin; her hair; her teeth; and her hands. She was perfectly fine. But then a huge cloud of guilt appeared over her head as she realized what Taro was doing the whole time… yet she hit and yelled at him. she looked over at him, and he was just smiling like he was proud. Of what? A daughter that shouts at him, doesn't appreciate him, and has no respect for him?

She didn't know whether she could say it. "er… I, er…" it was proving incredibly difficult. Right now she just wished she hadn't started the sentence so she wouldn't have to finish it. She stared down at her feet.

"no problem," she heard. "I didn't expect you to get it right first time, you always need a little push."

Minako looked back up at her father. "can… er…" she struggled. "… can you help me?"

His eyes filled with a mist of wonder. "help? With what?"

Chihiro looked incredibly excited, trying not to scream with happiness. They're finally getting along! She thought. "well… isn't there more to being a dragon than just looking like one? Breathing fire or something?"

"breathing fire? That's a mythical thing."

"fine, but so are dragons all together," they both smiled.

Chihiro couldn't contain her excitement. She was mentally jumping with joy and shouting "YAY!" to herself.

"so what do dragons do?" she asked, sounding interested.

"well, we can fly-"

"I'm not jumping off a building for that!"

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aww, I know it's short, but they bonded! In a strange way…

anyway… don't many people like it? I haven't had many reviews!! I'm unwanted and unloved!


	8. a new name for Taro

(the next day)

Taro took Minako up to the roof of the building. She was very uncomfortable with the idea and kept sideling away from the edges, which made Taro laugh a lot. "you know, being afraid of heights might not be such a good idea since you're gonna be flying." He smirked.

"I don't want to fly anymore…" she said, sounding a lot like a five-year-old.

"aw, come on! You're not scared, are you?" he provoked.

"yes… no… maybe…" Minako said, as if she was too afraid to even sort out her sentence. "I don't know, I just don't think I want to do this anymore… which reminds me, I haven't seen your dragon form thingy yet!" she smiled innocently and fluttered her lashes, indicating she wanted him to show it to her.

He looked at her for a moment. "… alright then." His body seemed to fade into a bigger form. Minako marvelled at her father in amazement. He was a very tall dragon indeed. But somehow, the word 'tall' didn't summarise it too well. Taro stood there, waiting to hear her next comment.

"not bad…" she said. "but let's see you fly."

Taro's expression welcomed the challenge as he crouched down, ready to give his best performance in a long time. He shot up into the air until he was invisible to the naked eye. Minako searched for him, but saw nothing. It made her worry; what really happened? Was it all real? Was she just imagining her own father? It was scary to think that the thing she wanted most in the world was just a dream. Suddenly, something knocked her knees but caught her before she hit the ground. She was being carried into the air.

At first, she wasn't sure whether she should allow the numbness in her to keep her silent, or to scream in fear. Then she realised it was only Taro. "show off!" she yelled, positioning herself and grabbing a tight hold of his horns. All that went through his mind at the time was the memory of Chihiro, and how she held on the exact same way. After another minute of flying, he landed on the roof again and transformed.

"well, now that you've seen my dragon form, I haven't seen yours _fully_ yet."

"_fully_? How the hell do I do that?" she asked.

"concentrate," he instructed. "clear your mind of all thoughts-"

"well, that explains how you do it so quickly," she mumbled, side-smirking.

Taro said nothing more, crossed his arms, and turned away from her, pouting. "that's it," he stated. "I refuse to teach under these conditions!"

"aw, come on!" Minako tried to get him to face her but all Taro did was turn again each time. "would you do it for a hug?"

one of his eyes couldn't help but sneak a peek at her quickly. "I might…" he said, unwillingly before Minako jumped up and locked her arms around his neck. "you said hug, not _headlock_!" he choked, almost toppling over. "need… air…" he faked a suffocation sound, though it sounded more like an old lady losing energy.

She finally released him and laughed. "you're just not used to my hugs yet!"

He rubbed his neck. "I don't think I _want_ to after that. Anyway, back to the point, concentrate on what you think you'd look like. Do you remember the colour of your scales from last night?"

She paused, trying to picture the memory of her reflection. "milky-white?"

Taro also paused to think. "I'd guess your fur would be a creamy colour."

Minako looked unsure but reluctantly shut her eyes. The image of a milky-white dragon with creamy fur stuck in her mind. It was quite easy; all she really did was picture Taro's dragon in a more feminine form and substituted the fur. A tingling sensation ran through her, tempting her to look but she kept as still as possible. It felt as though she had been lifted for two seconds and gently set down on her hands and feet.

"aw, you make a pretty dragon!" she heard Taro comment.

She glanced down at herself and sighed in annoyance. _Or lizard_, she mumbled, though it all sort of came out as growls. To Taro's human form, she was only as tall as her shoulders.

"don't worry, you'll grow soon enough."

_You can understand me?_ She growled/asked.

"well of course I would after almost twenty years of being a dragon myself."

_Do I still have to learn how to fly?_ She said, nervously. _I've actually got a really big fear of heights._

He gave her a reassuring smile. "you can change back now. The same way you transformed. And no, you don't have to fly, I won't force you. But if you change your mind, I'm always here."

Minako transformed and as soon as she was human again, she threw herself onto Taro and embraced tightly. "thanks, dad."

Taro stopped. She soon noticed that he wasn't really moving and broke the hug. He had a thoughtful smile on his face.

"are you okay?"

he nodded vaguely. "you so realise that's the first time you called me dad?"


	9. a small gift

It's amazing how long a few words, or sometimes a single word could make a smile bare upon someone's face. What was even more amazing for Taro was the word 'dad', he knew Minako was thirteen and had a very, _very_ colourful vocabulary, but hearing that small words felt like her first. He missed most of her childhood but somehow hearing her say that made it seem unimportant to him. He finally felt like a father.

They returned to the apartment, Taro's mind was preoccupied the whole time. Minako gasped at what she saw in the main room. "w-what are you doing here, Hotaka?" she said, still trying to convince herself what reality was.

Chihiro returned from the kitchen with a tray containing two cups of probably tea. "Hotaka came about fifteen minutes ago. He wanted to see you, Minako but you were busy," she hinted slightly. "I told him you wouldn't be long."

Minako was slightly embarrassed about their home. It was almost bare, since they didn't have enough money to buy luxury furniture, just the essentials. "er… what did you want?"

Taro tried hard to hide his grimace but failed miserably. He couldn't help but absolutely hate the kid's guts, a strange feeling gave him reason not to try and ignore it.

"erm…" he sounded as if he was nervous talking to her. He never usually did, plus he'd already told her that he liked her. "… I got you something." He held out a box. A big box, neatly wrapped, and tied with a bow as well.

"what is it? Can I open it?" she asked, lighting up.

Taro just threw death glares his way. Why was he sucking up? "and what, may I ask, is the reason for this… _wonderful_ gift?" he questioned, trying to keep a smile.

"I-I asked Minako to the dance… is that okay with you?" he hesitated.

"oh, _did you_,_ now_?" he gritted through his teeth. keeping a smirk in front of _him_ was so damn hard.

"as _friends_, dad." She knew what he was thinking. It wasn't what Hotaka was thinking… at all. He didn't ask her out as a friend, he asked her out as more than that. But he couldn't say that now, Taro hated him, and he didn't want to give Minako the wrong idea. He actually felt slightly stupid for buying the gift and was beginning to regret it. (A/N: life can be so complicated sometimes!)

"erm… I got to go, Minako, I'm kind of late."

"okay, thanks for the gift!" she called as he exited.

Taro dropped the curve on his lips, sighing as if it were painful. "I don't like him." he announced.

Minako didn't really hear her father, she was far too busy gazing at her present. She pulled at the ribbon and lifted the lid. Chihiro peeped over her shoulder, anxious to see what it was. She actually found Hotaka a 'nice guy' as some people would put it. (A/N: not in that way!! I don't know how else to put it!!) as soon as the lid was off, they both gasped. In there was a gorgeous white dress with a beautiful blue dragon on the side. Taro saw it and didn't like it one bit. _He knows something._ He thought,_ that's hardly what I call a coincidence! He can't have been spying, I didn't sense anyone around. I trust Minako so I don't think she would have told him… but did she?_

"Minako, what does he know?"

"about what?"

"about… you know… what happened?"

"what happened?" she said, still not getting the idea, and not completely concentrating either.

"last night."

"what about it?"

"did you tell him?"

"tell him what?"

"about being a dragon, damn it!" his tone raised. He threw a hand over his mouth as soon as it came out; he'd just patched things up with Minako, he didn't want to ruin anything. "did you tell him you were a dragon?" he said, calmer.

"Taro, Minako isn't that dumb…" then she looked at Minako, slightly unsure. "… are you?"

"of course not! I haven't told _anyone_ at all!" she insisted. She picked up the box and left for her room.

Minako lifted the dress out and held it up to herself. A few other objects dropped out and she leant down to examine and pick them up. There was a pair of contact lenses, and make-up. She was never really into make-up, but one night would be an exception. in the box was also something else; a little red box. Minako held it in her hands and opened it carefully, gasping. It was a silver necklace, earrings and a little ring, each with a blue diamond to match the dress.

"aw, how sweet!" she whispered to herself.

There came a knock at the door. "Minako, can I come in?"

She hid away the extra items before calling: "sure!"

Taro entered the room, looking disappointed in himself. "Minako…" he began, but wishing he hadn't. "do you really like this guy?"

"er… yeah, but not in that way. He's a good friend to me."

He made his way to the bed and sat down. "and you're going to that dance _just_ as friends, right? He won't try to make a move on you?" Taro asked, worriedly.

"dad! I know Hotaka likes me but he would never do that!" then she stopped a second. "hang on, why am I even having this conversation?"

"Minako, I just don't want the same thing that happened to your mom happen to you… I really don't like Hotaka. I don't trust him-"

"well I do! He's my friend and I think I know him well enough to be sure that'll never happen!"

"I know! I just don't want you to get hurt-"

"I am not going to get hurt! I know how to handle my own friendships!"

Taro silently sighed. He already thought he'd gone a little further than he wanted and Minako didn't look like she wanted to talk about this anymore so he left the room, a depressed expression that looked like it wouldn't move for the rest of the day. He knew his daughter could take care of herself but the nagging feeling would not rest until he did something, and he knew it.

There was something about Hotaka and he had to figure out what it was…

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I have noticed a dramatic decrease in the number of hits I receive for each chapter. It scares me…!

Well anyway, to those fans still loyal to me, please review.

Taz the MRF (me) says farewell…

Oh yeah, MRF Mentally Retarded Freak… a.k.a me


	10. secrets

YAY! double digit chapter!

wow... I need a life...

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Minako arrived at the river the next day to find that Hotaka had gotten there before her. He was lying on his back with his hands behind his head, facing the sky in deep thought. She decided she would be the one to surprise him for once. She crept up form behind him, making sure she made no noise at all when-

"what took you so long?"

Minako, who had been holding her breath the whole time, sighed deeply. "how d'you know?"

"that's for me to know and you to find out." He sounded very toneless today for some reason.

"is something wrong?" she asked, settling beside him.

Hotaka said nothing and remained where he was. "Hotaka?" she began to think; was he annoyed about something? Was he annoyed with her? She mentally gasped, hoping it wasn't true. He was her best friend, she couldn't upset him. he was possibly her last chance of ever having a true friend. Now she was faced with the decision: stay quiet and stop annoying him or say something and risk making a mistake?

"I haven't done anything wrong, have I?" she asked, finally.

At last, Hotaka looked up surprised and leant on his elbow. "wrong? Oh… no, of course not!" he said. "I didn't mean to make you think that it had anything to do with you. I'm just a little depressed, that's all."

She let out a relieved sigh. "is there anything you want to talk about?"

For a few seconds Hotaka said nothing, and for a moment Minako didn't think he would. "my mom got this new boyfriend that's a total jerk. All he cares about is his hair, money and clothes. I'm sure he's only going out with my mom for the image. But my mom really likes him… she says she's in love again."

Minako thought for a moment about the situation. "are you just worried for your mom or something?"

"well, kind of… but today, I did something I'm not proud of…" then as if he was recalling the memory, Hotaka gazed to the side. "he was in the driveway polishing his flashy sports car so everybody in the neighbourhood could see. I walked out of the house for school and he was about to go in for a drink. I frowned at him so he said 'you little brat. As soon as I marry your mother, you're going straight to a care home'." He began to grimace at the sight of his step dad to-be looking at him like that.

"I didn't speak to him as he went in but… that's when I kinda lost it; I saw the garage door open and the hammer just hanging there, like it was waiting for me. I'm not sure what I was doing coz it was all a big blur… but the next thing I knew, the car window was smashed, the hammer lay across the broken glass and the alarm was going off like crazy. So I just ran to school. I still haven't been home and I don't want to go either."

"_you broke the window of an expensive car?!_"

"I didn't mean-!"

"and I thought you were all talk and no action. I'm proud of you!" she smiled.

He gave her a confused face. "you don't think it was stupid?"

"hell no! you hate the freak, he isn't nice to you so why should you be nice to him? in my opinion, treat people the way they treat you."

Hotaka looked at her a while before smirking. "you have a way with words, Minako. You really know how to cheer someone up."

"I don't always know what to say though." She said, meekly.

He glanced at her. "what d'you mean?" then he felt a soft peck on the cheek. Hotaka blushed and bowed him head slightly, a grin growing on his face. "so I finally did get that kiss. Thanks…"

She remembered the events of last night and jumped into a hug, knocking Hotaka so he lay flat on the ground. "no, thank you!" then she got up and slapped him hard across the face. "and you are _such_ a bastard!"

He was leaning on one arm, rubbing his face with his right hand. "what did I do?"

Then she started to shout, contrasting completely from her mood ten seconds ago. "you got me a beautiful dress, beautiful jewellery, and you are just too freaking sweet! Exactly how much did you spend on me?!"

A few seconds later, all that had happened finally registered in his head and he ended up laughing at her. "I'll never get you girls. And I'll never confess."

"then why did you do it?"

"you said you'd go to the dance with me if you had an outfit for it. So are you going with me or not?"

she gaped at him. "you fucking cheat… you couldn't just go with someone else, could you?" she smiled. "alright."

-star- -star- -star-

Chihiro was almost late for work that morning (A/N: it's the same day). All Taro did the entire morning was sit and watch her every move. It made Chihiro slightly uncomfortable but as long as he wasn't in her way at the time, she'd tolerate it. She grabbed her jacket, keys and bus fare before heading for the door. "you've forgotten something…" Taro said as she was about to pass him.

"no I hav-!" Taro snatched her by the wrist and pulled Chihiro so she fell onto his lips.

Chihiro pulled herself up as Taro smirked. "told you so."

She grunted. "Taro, I don't have time for this, I'm gonna be late! I've got ten minutes to get there and the bus ride is twenty!"

"flying is only two minutes…!" he said, hinting slightly.

"fly…? Oh, no! no! I am _not_ going to let you fly me to work, I refuse to let you!"

"that wasn't an offer." He transformed quickly and knocked her onto his back, then flew out of the window at lightening speed.

"TARO, YOU PUT ME DOWN RIGHT NOW!!" she screamed down his ear, which wasn't a good idea since he had acute hearing.

_You might want to think through that last sentence…_ he growled, even though she couldn't understand him.

He glided through the air and finally reached the diner. He landed where he was sure no-one could see and changed back to human Taro. "why do you have to act like such a child, Taro?" Chihiro asked, trying to punch his chest but to him it felt like nothing more than a slight nudge.

"you used to love flying when you were a kid!" he defended himself.

"I'm not the same kid, you idiot!" she shouted. "I've grown up and become more responsible! What happened to you? You used to be all work and no play." Chihiro tried to look at him as if he were still the same little boy she looked up to as a ten-year-old, but she couldn't. He acts like a numbskull.

Taro remained silent for a moment. "… all I'm doing is refilling the gap in my childhood. I can do that with Minako now, I can wind her up. I can be the kid inside me that was never let out. If I just act myself, Minako would probably hate me. I know she hates being told what to do, so I don't tell her. I tease her into a decision."

Chihiro was left speechless. She'd never really thought of it that way. Actually, she'd never really thought of it at all, as long as Minako wasn't smoking, drinking, or doing drugs, she's fine. Behaviour could eventually be moulded. "… I'm sorry, Taro."

She ran through the entrance. Taro found himself too weak to stop her. What if she doesn't like how he's changed? Should he go back to the old Taro? But then, what about Minako? What if she doesn't like the old Taro? What was he to do…?


	11. eyes too big for your stomach?

ARGH!!! WRTIER'S BLOCK!! NOOOOOOO!!! MUST CONTINUE!!

Oh, by the way, I've started a Fruits Basket fic, so if there are and Furuba fans reading please check it out!

NAME: Dying For Your Love

RATING: T

GENRE: Drama/Hurt/Comfort

You know, just in case you're interested! British manners… annoys me sometimes.

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as Minako returned home, she found Taro in an awkward position on the couch, half hanging off of it in obvious boredom. He swayed his head from side-to-side, glancing at an upside down Minako staring at him strangely. "… I'm bored," he explained.

"I couldn't tell," she said, sarcastically. "have you tried watching TV?"

"I've memorized the words to every soap and cartoon on today. But I don't understand why the hell they gave Marge Simpson such a strange hair-style?"

Minako sniggered. "it's called comedy, dad. Don't they have any of that in the Spirit World? Like a spirit for radishes?"

"I'll be sure to tell him you said hi."

There was a long silence. Then Taro decided to break it. "… so what do you do when your mother goes to work?"

"shop?" she suggested.

"nice try, my money stays in my pockets where it belongs!" he said. "seriously. Soon enough I'll be sorting shoes. I did the cups an hour ago… please don't ask."

"well… what do you feel like doing?" she asked him. "play a game, go out, get a puppy, give up smoking?"

he looked at her. "but I don't smoke."

"job done then."

Taro thought for a while. There actually was something he wanted: "ice-cream."

"what?"

"I want ice-cream, do you? Good, let's go!" he spoke so fast that Minako only realised what he said when he dragged her outside. Actually, he didn't drag her outside the door, he dragged her to the window and repeated his actions with Chihiro.

Minako held on tightly with her eyes shut, still not quite used to the idea of flying. _He's gonna drop me, he's gonna drop me, he's gonna drop me…!_ She repeated to herself, absolutely sure of it.

They landed with Minako praising the heavens for not dying.

"what ice-cream's your favourite?" he asked, walking into the ice-cream parlour.

"that depends," she said. "how much money you got?" Minako smiled in the way that told him no amount was going to be enough.

They entered and sat down. Minako highly recommended the super-sized dish but Taro was sure she had never tried it before considering the price. "you've never been spoiled before, have you?"

She happily shook her head as the dish arrived. It was almost as big as the entire table!

He watched her scoff it all down, only taking a spoonful every once and a while. For such a thin girl she sure ate a whole lot. Then it occurred to him that she was only making the most of the time she was having; Chihiro had never had a chance to give her everything she wanted. Was that possibly the reason she acted like such a brat? What made her act so rotten? "Minako?"

"hmm?" she had already finished nearly a quarter of the massive bowl.

"you know when you were misbehaving and stuff, was it coz you didn't have many things?" he asked, although he was unsure of how to put it so whatever came out just came out.

Minako stopped her spoon shovelling through the mountains of ice-cream but didn't look at him. she wiped her mouth and pushed the huge plate away from her. "why would you think that?" her voice was pretty toneless too.

Right now, Taro wasn't sure if it was the right thing to ask; she seemed so carefree just a moment ago and now she sounded too tired to even talk. "um… just a passing thought."

"no," she answered. "I never really cared if we could afford new and fancy things."

"so why were you…? I mean, if you don't mind me asking, that is."

"I missed you." She finally turned to face him, his face was kind of (or really) surprised. " I know it sounds weird, but the only thing I really wanted was you to come back. But when you finally did, I was angry. I'm not sure why, but I think it's because I didn't want to forgive you when I thought that you were the one to walk out on me and mom. I took my anger out on everyone else. I didn't care what people thought of me, how my grades were, or whether of not I got expelled. I just wanted you to came back… I'm sorry I acted like such a bitch, dad."

Taro was lost for words as he stared at her smile. "… no you weren't, Minako." He was sort of making up his respond as he went along. "I know how it feels to be angry. Actually, you got that from me, I hate a lot of things, I get annoyed easily. So if anyone's to blame, it's me."

Minako raised a grateful smile, slowly picked up his spoon and shoved it in his face. "bet you can't finish all this in two minutes!" she challenged.

Taro grabbed it from her hands. "just watch me!" the ice-cream seemed to just fly into his mouth as his spoon moved at lightening speed back and forth. Minako timed him with the clock on the wall; it was gone in about thirty seconds! "I'd hate to say I told you so, but-!"

"shut up," she said, annoyed.

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I want ice-cream too! Please read and review!!


	12. who's fault?

Who thinks I should draw a picture of Minako, Hotaka, Chihiro and Taro and upload it to ? I already have a few pictures on there… you can check them out if you want…

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(day 5. I kept losing track and had to go through the story to figure it out!)

They arrived back home a few hours later. Entering the apartment, they found Chihiro sitting on the sofa with her eyes narrowed at them both. They could both tell that they were in trouble as the heat of her anger seeped through the air and burned through them.

"you should have told me you were going out," she said grimly.

Taro gulped. He was being irresponsible again. "Chihiro, it's my fault, Minako has nothing to do with it; I dragged her out with me to get ice-cream."

"I know very well it's your fault Taro." Chihiro got up and approached him. "you should have been the one to stop her from going out in the first place. She's supposed to be grounded, can't you understand that? She's supposed to be being punished and you go buying her ice-cream! How idiotic can you be?!" she screamed at him. she didn't mean to, it's just that stress was really getting to her with Minako being expelled and having a really low pay for all of her work.

"mom, he was only being a good dad to me, he didn't mean to-"

"Minako, don't talk back. Just go to your room." her voice seemed forced to calm down.

"but it's only five thirty-"

"go!" she ordered, striking her index finger to the direction she wanted her to go.

Minako didn't want to argue. She was having a good time up until now and she didn't want to spoil it so bowed her head and walked obediently. As soon as she was out of sight, Taro began. "see? Now she does what you want. Your problem is that you don't know how to handle her-"

"do you want me to be an expert or something?!" she snapped. "what are you expecting of me? I know I wasn't ready for a child but it wasn't my fault. I couldn't help Minako's birth and I didn't want an abortion either. My mother and father didn't want me since they found out I was pregnant. They said I was nothing but a slut, so I had to fend for myself from then on. I stopped going to school so I could work, and because I stopped going to school, I didn't get a good job." (A/N: it makes you believe what parents think about school, don't it?)

He saw the tears building up in her eyes but knew she was trying to stay strong. "Chihiro, I know it wasn't exactly the best form of punishment but… I really think you should be a little easier on her."

She shut her eyes and sighed in frustration and allowed him to hold her tightly. "I don't want to be angry at either of you."

"you don't have to be, Chihiro. You're just too paranoid sometimes."

Minako now fully shut the door to her room silently. _it's my fault…_


	13. liar, liar

I've just realised that I put in a URL on the last chapter but it wouldn't let me put it on. 6, right? – Hotaka's home)

As Hotaka sat in his room after school that day, he couldn't help but smile at the memory of Minako kissing him on the cheek. It distracted him from his work and he almost got into trouble for not finishing on time. Luckily he was a fast writer.

Instead doing the homework that had been set, he found himself doodling endlessly. Little comic strips ran through most of the pages, but he didn't really care. He was so high in the sky that he didn't notice Haruki – his future step dad - walk in, uninvited.

"shouldn't you be doing homework?" he said, snatching the book from Hotaka and helping himself to the drawings.

"give me that!" he ordered, not wanting him to see what he wrote about Minako.

He held it up in the air, higher than Hotaka's reach and read. "who's this 'Minako'? and why would she like anyone like you?"

Hotaka finally managed to get his book back and began. "why wouldn't she?" he asked.

"well, let's face it, you're not very attractive, you're not very tall and you're certainly not interesting."

Hotaka gave him a death glare but all Haruki did was laugh. "you're not any of those things either you know!"

"no, but money is! Haven't you learnt that, yet? Or are you too stupid?"

His fists clenched so tightly it felt as though they would bleed. All that went through his head was to punch all of his teeth out. Then Hotaka's eyes narrowed and he grew a deadly smile which wiped the smile clear of Haruki's face. He charged at him, knocking the bastard off his feet and slamming his fists at his face continuously. The shouts could be heard about two streets away. Hotaka's mother came running in to find her fiancé being mauled to death by her own son. "Hotaka!" she screamed, shoving him off of Haruki, who had cuts and bruises nearly everywhere. "what's gotten into you?!"

Hotaka lay a hand on his head, feeling a sudden headache and not being able to recall any of his actions. He couldn't understand why he was being shouted at. What had he done?

"he's a maniac!" Haruki said, getting to his feet. "he was trying to kill me for no reason!" he lied, acting like he was the victim.

"Hotaka, why did you do this?" she asked, slightly leaning over to Haruki's side of the argument.

He looked at her confused. "what did I do?"

"what do you mean 'what did I do?', you don't completely try to rip my face off and then play dumb!"

Hotaka's mother went to feel his forehead, knowing something was wrong; he had never lied to her before, but she saw him almost kill someone and then claim to not have a clue what was going on?

"Hotaka, have you had something you shouldn't have?" she asked him, as nicely as she could.

He looked up at her. "what are you implying?" he said in suspicion.

"you idiot!" Haruki shouted. "she means are you taking drugs?"

"what?!" his eyes widened. "you think I'd be stupid enough to get involved in _drugs_?!"

"NO! well… yes," his mother admitted. "you just seem a little dazed and you don't have a temperature, so-"

"so you assumed I was doing drugs? Oh, thanks a lot, _mom_!" he stomped off, leaving his mother to care for Haruki.


	14. true friend moments

Hotaka arrived at the river where he and Minako always meet. Minako had already got there before him. he held his breath at the sight of her hair flowing down her back and reflecting the light perfectly. He sat next to her trying his best to hold up a mask so she wouldn't worry about him. no, it wasn't that he didn't want her to worry about him – Hotaka actually loved it when all her attention was on him. He just didn't want her to know that he had almost ripped someone's face off.

"you're here a little early, aren't you?" he said.

"always the one that wants to be on time, aren't you? Perhaps I'm here at the right time and you're just late?" she suggested. "check your watch if you don't believe me."

He held up his wrist but stopped in alarm as he heard Minako gasp quite loudly. Hotaka turned to face her. "what's wrong?" she looked so shocked, staring at his hand. "what?"

"w-what did you do!?" Minako grabbed his hand, pulled her sleeve over hers and began to rub.

"ow! That hurts! What are you doing?" he struggled.

"how the hell did you get _blood_ on your hands?!" she wiped harder then stopped and stared. "this isn't even _your_ blood, you don't have any cuts… what happened?" she glared at him and waited for an answer.

"n-nothing!" eh hesitated, feeling bad about the lie.

She kept her gaze at him, she wasn't about to give up.

"please stop looking at me like that," Hotaka said, making him feel very nervous and uneasy. "alright! I attacked Haruki, my mom's boyfriend. He was provoking me."

Minako set his hand down. "what did he do?"

Could he tell her? Could he tell her that he stole doodles of her from him? soon he found the courage to say something. "he… was telling me… that I'm not very attractive, short and boring. Then I saw his face was bleeding in several places and he was started to get bruises. Now my mom thinks I'm on drugs. But the weird thing is that I don't remember anything from the attack. But I know I did do it, unless Haruki drugged me then beat himself up to blame it on me but I don't think even he would stoop so low."

She smiled at him sympathetically. "don't worry, Hotaka. One, you _are_ pretty cute. Two, you can't help not being very tall, you're just a kid and you're taller than most people in our classes. Three, would I even be here if you were boring?"

He grinned gratefully. "thanks… he just made me a little unsure of myself… more than usual," he mumbled the last part.

Minako didn't know if she should say anything at that point. She didn't think anyone as popular as Hotaka would have a low self-esteem. And how could he not realise how good-looking he was or how sweet and nice. "but… it _is_ getting a little dull to always come to the same place to talk. How about we go walk around the town?"

"where to?"

"I don't know. Anywhere?"

"movies?" Hotaka suggested.

She shook her head quickly. "no, I can't. I don't have any money!"

"fine." He got up and held his hand out to help her up. Then held it tightly and dragged her along with him. "I'll pay!"

"what? No! no, you won't!" she protested but Hotaka wouldn't listen and just kept hauling her along.

-star- -star- -star-

Minako could not stop him from paying for the ticket so couldn't carry on struggling. They took their seats. "you bastard, I told you _not_ to pay! Are you deaf or something?"

"well actually I'm half deaf," he said, simply.

Minako said nothing. That was… unexpected. (A/N: you'd be surprised how many people say 'are you deaf' to me and I reply the exact same thing coz I'm half deaf. Plus I think Hotaka should have a little imperfection) the movie was pretty dull but she didn't want to complain since he had paid for her. She leant on the armrest furthest away from Hotaka and began to doze off.

Hotaka was also getting bored. They were in the top row and there was no-one in the seats in front of them so he decided to put his feet up. Minako who wasn't quite asleep yet noticed this and figured he was bored too. She poked him in the side just for fun and he jumped and let out a little yelp. Minako silently cracked up with laughter at him. he got pretty annoyed and poked her back continuously. Occasionally throwing handfuls of sweets at each other.

They were drawing a lot of attention to themselves without realising it. Minako kept bursting out with laughter. And soon they were thrown out for making such a disturbance. Neither of them could stop laughing, but Minako did her best to try and talk normally. "Hotaka…" she panted. "I'm sorry for… wasting your money!"

"wasted?" he laughed. "that was the most fun I've had in a _very_ long time!" he was trying to keep his sides from splitting but it proved incredibly difficult.

They finally managed to stop after a long while.

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sorry, the chapter is short but I'm also busy… does anyone know an easy way to make an animation?


	15. why is it always me?

You won't believe what happened… I tried to download something for a friend and it ended up deleting nearly all my files! I'm so stressed! Even all but one of my stories so I had to make new documents!! ARGH!

No, I shouldn't complain, I did something nice (made a birthday video, yay!) Happy 13th Birthday to my best friend, Leanne! (she's 13 on Friday the 13th!)

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Minako arrived home to find Taro lying on the couch and staring at the ceiling. She greeted him but got no reply. "dad?"

Taro just blinked as if nothing was going on. She went to tap him on the shoulder when he finally spoke. "you're not going tomorrow."

"what? Where?"

He sat himself upright and indicated that he wanted her to sit beside him. "I don't want you to see Hotaka tomorrow."

"_what_? Why?" she asked, not sure why he was saying this – he had always been the nicer parent.

"I… I saw you at the movies today and…" he started. "I noticed something about him and I don't think it's safe."

"dad, why don't you trust him? and… hey, why were you even there in the first place?!"

Taro swallowed… uh-oh… "I happened to be in the area… that's all-!"

"you are such a bad liar! Tell me, why were you there?"

he sighed. "alright, I wasn't." he got another one of 'those looks' from his daughter. "really! It's this thing that I can't quite explain… well, yes I can but you'd hate me forever if I told you."

"I'll hate you even more if you don't tell me!"

"gees… alright, I can see through your eyes. You almost fell asleep during the movie. I know, I had to watch it."

Minako looked at him in disgust. It was what she classified as spying. "how could you do that to me? Don't you have any respect?"

"of course I do! It's just that I'm also a little protective." He himself didn't really understand what he meant but hoped Minako would to save him from looking like a total idiot. "listen, Hotaka is dangerous-"

"no he's not!" she rose to her feet, marching off as she spoke. "you just don't want me to have a social life with good friends! Can't you understand that that's all Hotaka and I will ever be? And I _know_ he'd never do anything to hurt me! Why can't you see that?"

"Minako, please, listen to me! I think he's-!"

"I don't want to know what you think! Just because I have to keep this dragon thing a secret doesn't mean I have to lock myself away from the world!" she got into her room and slammed the door shut behind her which made Taro flinch.

_I should really make a tally chart of how often that happens_, he thought to himself before sighing deeply. _How do I always manage to do this?_

Chihiro returned from work after that to see Taro in deep thought. She decided it was best to let him think – he hadn't been doing much of that lately.

"Chihiro," he began. "would you still love me if I were a monster?"

"… how the hell did that question come up?" she asked, hanging her coat up.

"no, I meant, if I was really mean to you, would you still love me?"

She stopped to have a five-second think. "truthfully, no." she admitted. "why would I love you if you were mean? Remember how afraid of you I was before I found out about Katsu? Why do you ask?"

He sighed and started picking at his lips (A/N: I'm currently doing that like I always do… I always end up with a lip bleed…). "I wonder if Hotaka has a mean streak…?" he mumbled to himself.

"Taro! He's Minako's friend!"

_why do they all end up shouting at me?_ He sighed silently.

"if she wants to go out with him, she can go-!"

"I AM NOT GOING OUT WITH HIM!" they heard from Minako's room.

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sorry, quite short but I am a busy girl. (YAY, MAKING PIZZA TODAY!) anywho… please review. Yay, it rhymed! I'm a poet and I didn't even realise it… I mean… know it…


	16. the dream

Minako wasn't showing it, but she hadn't had a peaceful night's sleep in about a few months and it was starting to get to her these day. That morning she put the cereal in the refrigerator and wondered why she had the milk in her hands. She'd stolen some money out of Taro's wallet to pay Hotaka back, even though she was sure he wouldn't except it. She had to get out of the apartment before Taro woke up – which was about 3.00pm.

As she arrived at the river, Minako hoped she could squeeze in a little rest before he came. She lay down on the soft grass and shut her eyes.

-star- -star- -star-

(where Hotaka is…)

Hotaka had just gotten out of school and was heading to the river. He'd normally stop at home to drop his things off but he didn't want to be there because he knew Haruki would be there. From a distance, he could see Minako lying on the grass. He guessed she was just waiting but as he got closer, he realised that she didn't spot him like she usually did.

"Minako?" he whispered. There came no response so he decided he wouldn't say anything; he had an essay to get started on anyway. Hotaka got out a pen and his school book; the pen clicked which woke Minako.

"huh? Hotaka? What are…? Oh…" she remembered. "I-I'm sorry I was just-"

"no, it's okay. I only just got here," he explained. "you tired?"

she nodded. Then she remembered to give him the money and pulled it out of her pocket. "this is for paying for my ticket." She handed it over but Hotaka shoved her hand away.

"no. I don't want it."

"take it! You'll make me feel guilty," Minako said, thrusting it to him.

Hotaka crossed his arms and turned away defiantly. "no," he said in a child-like voice.

She knew she wasn't going to get anywhere like this; she had a different approach… "you're too good to me, Hotaka." Minako leant over to his side, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"nah, I'm just helping a friend," he said, modestly.

"no, really." She lay the other hand on his chest and could feel his heart rate increasing. "you're always there for me," she added, her fingers lingering above his thigh. (what Hotaka didn't know was that she'd slipped the money into his pocket while he was busy gulping with nerve).

"M-Minako, are you sure you're not still a little sleepy?" he asked hesitatingly.

She smiled and brought her hand up to stroke his cheek. "what makes you say that?" it was true, though, she was exhausted. Minako wasn't going to sleep while he was here.

He looked at her expectantly. "yawn," Hotaka said simply.

She held her breath but then covered her mouth as she felt a yawn creeping up. He stared at her, side-smiling – and kinda glad she'd stopped. It made him really nervous. "okay… maybe just a little bit tired," she admitted.

"you know, you didn't have to come if you were tired. You should've stayed in bed and slept, come a little later if you wanted to."

"no, I can't. My dad… He kind of… Banned me from going out so I had to get here before he woke up. Otherwise I couldn't be here at all… well, unless you didn't want me here-"

"no, of course I do! I just meant that you should get your rest first. Sleep now if you want to," he suggested.

Minako shook her head. "no, I can't-"

"yes, you can. Just lie down on the grass like you did before."

"what about you?" she asked. "what are you gonna do?"

he reached for his book and pen. "I have an essay that I didn't intend to do until the last minute, but since I'm free…"

Minako smiled at him before yawing as laying herself down. Actually, Hotaka lied. He still had no intention of doing his homework anytime soon, he just wanted to get her to relax a little and then watch her sleep. Hotaka set down next to her with his hands behind his head. He could hear Minako's soft breaths so he knew she was asleep.

Suddenly, Hotaka held his breath as Minako rolled closer to him. Her head was now using his chest as a pillow with her arm crossed over to his shoulder. _I can handle this, I can handle this… _he repeated to himself. She probably wouldn't sleep to long anyway… he hoped.

-Minako's dream- (A/N: I was being really careful with this coz I know a lot about dreams so if you want, you can search the meaning)

Hotaka stood in front of Minako with a warm smile on his face. She smiled back, hoping he would get the same feeling of comfort and safety. He held out his arms and pulled her close to him in a warm embrace. She enjoyed the feeling of his warm body against her cheek. All of a sudden, he ripped her away from him and stared at Minako in confusion.

"what?" she asked as he tore away his hands from her arms.

She looked at hands, covered in milky scales. Minako felt her face had a bumpy texture and her nose had changed it shape to become longer and more outstretched to the front. Then she found that her hands were no longer hands, but claws.

Minako looked up to see that Hotaka had turned his back on her and was walking away. _No! please, come back!_ She growled her pleads. It seemed that he couldn't hear her. Or wouldn't? he can't just leave her there alone. She reached to pull him back, afraid of losing someone so close to her.

-back in reality-

Minako was clutching to Hotaka's shirt, whimpering with fear. Hotaka bit his lip hard; she was scratching right through the top and her nails had dug into his skin. He clenched his fists but did his best not to move, no matter how painful it was.

-Minako's dream-

She gasped, not knowing what to do; trying to pull Hotaka back had caused her to scratch him. he was bleeding intensively and on the floor in agony. Minako glanced down to the ground where the blood seeped by her feet. She see her reflection, but not the dragon… it was her human form. Hotaka had gone! She searched frantically, and the worst thing was that she couldn't transform again. She was lost in the middle of nothing…

-back to reality-

"come back!" Minako screamed, shooting up from Hotaka.

"what?" Hotaka said, glad that she'd woken up. But he wouldn't say anything about the scratches.

She was panting like crazy already but then realised she had been sleeping on Hotaka! "oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! I really didn't-"

"it's okay… I don't mind…" he hesitated – Hotaka didn't want to admit how much he loved the feeling.

"did… did I hurt you?" she bit her lip, seeing the creases in his once ironed shirt.

"no! not at all!" he lied…

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more next time… please review!


	17. school tomorrow

(at the same time)

Taro slammed a fist down against the table in anger, causing his drink to spill. "that _bastard_!" he yelled aloud.

Chihiro sighed. "what did Hotaka do now?" _that probably wasn't so bad but you just want something to get worked up about…_ she thought to herself.

"it seems our little _angel_ has slept with him-"

"WHAT?!"

"misuse of words! Calm down!" (A/N: I can't make him serious for too long! Oh well…)

she exhaled in relief. "please don't do that ever again!"

Taro tried to raise a smile but found it difficult. "I meant she fell asleep on him and she was flirting… a lot."

Chihiro shook her head. She was fine with Minako flirting with Hotaka (she thought he was a nice guy when she first met him), she just hated how over-protective Taro was. "Taro, please. Give her some space, she's not dumb," she defended.

"I know she's not. But, I knew she was dreaming. I'm not sure what but it was a nightmare. She was afraid and… her claws were growing out and she was baring her dragon teeth. What if Hotaka saw that? What if Minako get too comfortable and tells him?"

"that's her choice, Haku."

He stared at her. "did you just call me 'Haku'?" he asked her, slightly unsure if he'd heard right.

"uh…" Chihiro hesitated. "I did?"

"why did you call me that? Ever since that day everyone's called me Taro."

She sighed. She didn't know why she called him that but didn't want to tell him that she was thinking of the short time they spent together as kids. It was probably that that got her to say it but there was probably no point explaining. "it doesn't matter. Where's Minako now?"

"she should be coming back soon. Though she shouldn't have been out in the first place, the disobedient little-"

"Haku!"

"HA! You did it again!" he said, victoriously.

Chihiro turned her gaze away. "so what?" she said. "I can call you what I like, can't I?"

"I didn't say you could. Why do you keep calling me by my old name?" Taro asked.

"I don't know," she answered simply, trying not to give anything away.

He glared at Chihiro like he was undoing a button on her sealed lips. She finally sighed. "alright... I was just thinking of how much you've changed since you were a kid."

"is that a good thing or a bad thing?" he asked.

Chihiro just shook her head and smiled thoughtfully. She didn't want to tell him what she was thinking anymore; bad thing. He was too immature and being too much of an airhead. Then expected to take over.

About an hour later, Minako arrived home.

"Minako," Taro began. "I told you not to go out, didn't I?"

she swallowed and finally nodded feebly. "I had to go, dad," she explained. "Hotaka paid for my ticket when we went to the movies and I had to pay him back!"

"yeah, with _my_ money! I would've gave it to you if you just asked me. You're my daughter, you don't have to steal from me."

Minako bowed her head. "I'm sorry, dad. I just thought that if you knew I was going to go back, you wouldn't let me."

Taro got to his feet and ruffled her hair. "hey!" she protested, making a move to grab his hand away. When he stopped, they both slouched onto the sofa. "where's mom?"

"she got the night shift so you probably wont see her until tomorrow morning. So… what do you wanna do?" he was bored again.

Minako rolled her eyes and laughed. "you're worse than a six-year-old. What did you do if you were bored in the Spirit World?"

Taro looked up into the corner of the room as if he were recalling the memories. He had to admit, though, it wasn't for fun; all he did when he was bored was train in the gardens were no-one would bother him. but it was only occasionally when he got some free time from working for Yubaba. "well… in your school do you do sparring and stuff?"

"you've never been to a normal school, have you? Not unless you go to some sort of karate club." She told him.

He looked at her hopefully. "do you?"

"no. we can't afford it, idiot!"

"well… how about I give you free lessons?" he offered, standing up. "you want to?" Taro held out a hand to help Minako up. She lay her hand in his and was pulled to her feet and dragged out of the door again.

"wait!" she ordered. "I can't do any of this, I have school tomorrow!"

he stopped at the bottom of the stair to the roof. "it won't take too long and besides, it's just your uniform and books you need to get ready, right?"

"no, I still have homework." She admitted, bowing her head and knowing she should have done it earlier.

He took his grip off of her wrist and stared. "why didn't you do it earlier? You had an entire week!"

"… I kept going out… then I just forgot about it. I'm sorry, dad," she apologised with her eyes going into that puppy-dog pose.

Taro sighed. "that's okay. You win some, you lose some," He smiled.

Minako grew a smile and threw her arms around his neck. "thanks. Mom would have shouted at me for leaving it until now."

Taro returned the hug before replying. "well, you're mom's under a lot of stress these days. It's only natural she'd be angry."

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sorry, no more updates for about a week coz I'm going to Paris! WHOO! Please review, I want a full inbox by the time I get back… LEAVING SUNDAY AT 5AM!


	18. Yumi

Guess who's back? I'm just gonna skip the morning stuff… she's in school now

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Minako grabbed all of her books from her locker before stuffing them into her bag. What a treat; she had double English. (A/N: I actually like English… next to art…) closing her locker, Minako made her way to the English room sighing deeply. Well, being in school was better than doing nothing at home with no friends; at least here she was _doing_ something with no friends. Except Hotaka, but she was sure he'd be with his usual friends instead of risking his popularity to be with her.

Minako took a seat and sighed thinking of the boredom she'd have to endure. Plus, she'd probably have to copy up a weeks-worth of work; she'd guessed it would be Shakespeare and knew it still wasn't over. Macbeth wasn't a play that you could just get through in a few lessons, especially not with a teacher like Mr. Satou. About a dozen students were waving their arms in the air frantically just to show that they'd saved a space for someone. As Minako took out her books out a hand slammed on her papers.

"you're a bitch, you know that?" she looked up to see Hotaka staring down at her, his face expressionless. "this seat taken?" he asked, making a small head gesture to the desk to her right.

"yeah, Jeffrey's sitting there," Minako replied, smiling innocently.

Hotaka gave her an awkward look. "Jeffery?"

"he's an invisible leprechaun that likes to wear odd socks. "but he hates strangers."

Hotaka grinned at her and threw his bag on the floor with his free hand. "well you can tell Jeffery that he's not the only one that wants to sit next to you." He removed his other hand from the table and sat down.

Minako saw that he'd left money in front of her. The same amount she'd gave him the day before. "Hotaka, that money was to pay you back!"

"I told you, I don't want it back!"

she picked it up and thrust her hand towards him. "take it! I don't need it anyway!"

"then don't keep it, take it to pay your dad back!"

there was a long pause as Minako watched in surprise. "h... how did you know I took it from him? I didn't tell you that."

Hotaka turned away as if he were trying to recall memories. Eventually he just shook his head. "I don't know," he told her. "déjà vu?" he offered, smiling.

-star- -star- -star

reluctantly, Minako agreed to take the money. English was finally over. They both got _a lot_ of glares from all the other students, some envious and others really, _really_ confused at their friendship; talking, smiling, laughing together? It wasn't normal in a school like that. The two left the room. Minako went to her locker to dump her stuff and Hotaka followed. He even offered to carry her books but she thought that was going a little far with the friendship so refused.

Hotaka leant on the lockers beside Minako's and waited patiently.

"hey, Hotaka!" came a really annoying voice from by him.

He turned to see Yumi disturbingly close to him. _Oh, hell, not you again_, he thought. " hi, Yumi.," he beamed, mentally pulling out a bazooka and threatening her to get lost or he'll shoot. "you want something?"

Yumi fluttered her obviously fake long lashes at him. "just to say that I'm looking forward to the dance. What are you wearing?"

"why do you want to know?"

"you know, so I can co-ordinate. I'm wearing a cream coloured dress so I think you should wear-"

"hold on, Yumi. In case you've forgotten, we broke up last week!"

Minako's head suddenly popped out from behind Hotaka, now interested and slightly shocked with the conversation. (A/N: I can just picture that... Lolz!) "come on, Hotaka, you'd have to be mad to turn me down! Who else you gonna go with?" she pouted in satisfaction, a little over-confident that she'd won the argument. Hotaka knew she couldn't take the fact that she'd been dumped. She'd been bothering him the whole time Minako was suspended.

"actually I'm already going with someone."

Her eyes widened and seemed to flare with anger. Yumi crossed her arms firmly. "and who would that be?"

Hotaka stepped aside to reveal Minako, who turned bright red. "with my best friend," he stated. "Minako."

Yumi gave her a death glare. "you're going with her? Are you sure you wanna ruin your reputation by being seen with that slut-?"

"Minako is not a slut!" Hotaka yelled. "that's what you're classified as," he smirked.

Minako decided it would be best for her if she'd stay quiet. Getting suspended once was quite enough.

Yumi inhaled deeply like she was trying to hold back the anger that was bubbling up inside of her. She clenched her fists, her manicured nails digging into her palms. Her hand suddenly raised and struck Hotaka across the face. "you're just a fucking two-timing bastard!" she turned on her heel like was trying to burn through the floor, grunted and began walking away.

Hotaka rubbed his cheek, knowing there was probably a hand-shaped red mark there. He turned to Minako who just stood there and blinked. Hotaka laughed. "it's amazing how I manage to two-time someone I'm not going out with anymore."

She blinked several more times before she found her voice again. "you didn't tell me you were going out with Yumi. Why didn't you tell me you'd broken up with her? Why _did_ you break up with her in the first place?"

"you saw how annoying she is." Half true again; Yumi _is_ annoying, but he dumped her mostly because he wanted to ask Minako to the dance.

Minako sighed and decided to drop the subject. "what do you think I'll need for art?"

"not much. You know no-one ever does anything in an art class. We just sit and do whatever."

"_you_ just sit and do whatever. _You_ have people to talk to. _I_, on the other hand, don't Therefore _I _use my skills," she smiled as she took out her old sketch pad. It was a present from years ago and she hadn't really used it much since her mother probably wouldn't buy her a new one – luckily it had a lot of paper in it. Minako shut her locker and made her way to the art room.

"hey, wait for me!" Hotaka called, chasing behind her.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Really need some inspiration. I got the full story planned out but there's the problem – it's already planned. I hate that!

Unless, of course, I added a third sequel where I end this one in a cliffie – that way even I don't know what'll happen! Hehe! I'm very spontaneous when it comes to writing…

Sorry I took so long to update! Please review – if you're not angry at me...


	19. wwwwhhhhyyyy?

In art class, Minako sat in her usual corner – no-one usually came to sit anywhere close to her unless they'd fallen out with their friends; even then they wouldn't say a word to her. Their teacher wasn't much of a teacher. He only sits at his desk and either stares at nothing or sleeps with his feet up, wearing shaded glasses; everyone knew what he was trying to pull, though. Hotaka finally managed to catch up – he didn't usually expect girls to walk as fast as that.

"Don't you dare tell me this 'Jeffery' guy took that seat," Hotaka panted, sliding into the chair. "I've just chased you all the way here. How the hell do you dodge through the crowd like that?!"

Minako pouted and turned away. Giving him a slight 'huff'. "Jeffery doesn't appreciate being sat on!"

"Just answer the question, bitch," he smiled with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

She ignored him for the second time and got out a worn out old pencil from her bag. Minako began to open her sketch pad and, what it seemed to be, sweep her hand across the page at lightening speed. The lead didn't even look like it came close to touching the paper. Hotaka was with interest. She was only scraping the sheet so he couldn't quite figure out what it was. Then it slowly began to take form: it looked a little more human. "Is that-?"

"You? Yeah," she said, not looking up. "What do you think? It's just a rough sketch so don't be offended if your features are out of proportion or in the wrong place or-"

"Wow... that's really good. Who taught you to draw like that?" he asked, sliding the drawing in front of him.

"Um... no one. I just started drawing one day." She took the art back and continued to draw. "it's not finished." Minako looked up at Hotaka and sketched in his neck and shoulders then his open-necked shirt. "Hey, Mr. Goody-Goody, you of all people should know that students shouldn't wear jewellery. What's with the sudden change of heart?" she asked, seeing the glint of gold.

Hotaka pulled out the chain and held the charm in his hand. It had the cross with a little figure which seemed to represent Jesus limply hanging on it. He was staring at it as if he knew who the person was his whole life. The smile he held looked so sorrowful and longing, like he was on the verge of tears.

"I didn't think you were the religious type of guy," she said, watching his face, hoping she could figure out what he was thinking.

Hotaka shook his head. "I'm not. My dad was. This used to be his. He gave it me on my birthday but I didn't appreciate it much back then since I was such a spoilt brat... he died two days later and this was the last thing he gave to me so I kept it. Before then I wouldn't even think of wearing it. But now I've learnt to appreciate the things I have before I lose it..." he glanced at his friend to see her in deep thought. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything. It's all pointless memories-"

"no, it's not! How the hell do you do that? How do you always look at the bright side of things? Why is it all so easy for you to do? I think my life's nothing but bullshit and all I can do is complain. Your dad's _dead_ and you take advantage of it to shape your personality. My dad's still alive and he's really nice to me but all I do is shout at him or disappoint him in someway! How do you know how to improve!?"

He said nothing, just looking blankly ahead.

"Oh... I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shout like that... I'm just frustrated. How do you do it?"

"like you did just now. Take out your anger then you'll realise what's wrong." Minako wondered what he was talking about. "you said you disappoint him – how? And how can you stop? What will happen if you don't? That's all you need to know."

Minako felt a sudden rush of envy through her blood. "You're always the smart one, you're liked by everyone, you're rich, you're good-looking – what more could you ask for?"

The thoughtful smile bared upon his face a while longer as he replied: "my dad. That's all I want." Hotaka turned to Minako. "I know I'm lucky. I can just buy a lot of things but... not everything. Even at my age, I could buy a car just for show but I can't buy real friends to enjoy it with me. That's why I'm lucky I have you."

Minako looked back down at her picture as if she wasn't interested in what he was saying. In truth, she was just speechless. Why is he always so nice to her no matter what she does or says? It's like he knows what makes her tick and yet, Minako couldn't figure out a single thing about him.

It was now lunch. Hotaka kept following Minako around and had even carried her food to an empty table. He knew no one would sit with them but preferred that since he had something he wanted to ask her. She set her belongings down and kept her head bowed down, her cheeks burning. Minako wasn't exactly sure why she was embarrassed by all of this attention; it was from one of the cutest boys in the school! As she sat down, she could hear a crowd of girls bitching about her. (A/N: grr…)

_He probably just feels sorry for her_, _I heard her say she only likes the fact that Hotaka buys her stuff_, _Minako's nothing but a prostitute!_ The comments flew all around her head as she held back the urge to turn around and give them all matching black eyes. "Minako?" Hotaka said – he knew that the rumours had probably originated from Yumi.

"Huh?" she snapped out of her train of unpleasant thought.

"Um… would you like to come over to my house for a while?" he asked.

Nearby crowds ushered into silence. The news carried through the entire hall until all but a few random whispers here and there. They all seemed to be awaiting Minako's response but didn't seem to realise that the quieter it got, the quieter Minako was going to stay.

"Geg out!" Hotaka called. Everybody immediately went back to a conversation; sending a few spies to listen in. (A/N: 'geg' is British slang for people who listen in; I aint sure if you people anywhere else use it so let me know if you do!) "Well?"

"Uh… okay… when?"

"Is tomorrow okay?" as soon as the words left his mouth, about six or seven people scattered in various directions. Hotaka sighed and rolled his eyes.

"n-no!" Minako's voice rose. A few heads turned. "I don't want to go!" several gasps were just barely audible.

Hotaka stared and blinked at her then he raised his hands. "Okay. I was only asking," He smiled, even though he felt incredibly disappointed and depressed now.

Minako felt bad now because she knew she'd let him down and he wouldn't show it. It just made the guilt trip feel longer.

"Minako?" said Yumi from behind her, surrounded by a few friends that people like Minako called clones. "could I have a word with you? in the hallway?"

Hotaka lay an elbow on the table and rest his head in the palm of his hand. "what if she doesn't want to?" he smiled, innocently.

"uh... it's okay, I'll be back in a minute," Minako said, getting up and following the clones out. Hotaka shook his head and sighed. _Sometimes, Minako, you can be so naïve..._

out in the hallway where no one was, Minako was thrown against a wall, hitting her head really hard. "OW!" she yelled.

"what makes you think you have the right to turn Hotaka down like that?!" Yuki screamed at her, getting the two clones to surround Minako.

"what? So you _want_ me to go?" she folded her arms disobediently.

"of course not, you little whore!"

"then why don't I have the right to turn him down?!" everything Yumi had told her seemed too pointlessly endless.

"because Hotaka is _my_ boyfriend!" a masculine hand slammed against Yumi's small feminine shoulder.

"_ex_-boyfriend."

Yumi's two clones fled at the sight of Hotaka. "now, what were you saying, Yumi? Something about Minako being a _whore_?"

Yumi turned to face him and threw her arms around his neck. "you know I didn't mean it, babe!"

Minako scowled and turned away from them both, about to go into the canteen again. Hotaka grimaced at Yumi. "no, I don't know. And don't ever call me 'babe' again." He pushed her off and tagged along with Minako. Yumi grunted and marched off in the other direction.

Before they entered the canteen, Minako paused at the door. "Hotaka, just so you know, the only reason I said I didn't want to go was because everyone was listening in. I really do want to come," she told him.

Hotaka smiled. "tomorrow it is, then!" but then he remembered. "uh... if it's okay with your dad, that is..."

Minako knew it wouldn't be but decided to make something up. "I'm sure it'll be fine..."

"great!"

-star- -star- -star-

"you're _not_ going!" Taro said, firmly.

"_why_?" Minako followed him around the room.

He sighed. "I already told you, I don't trust him!"

"but _why_?" she continued to whinge.

"I have my reasons!"

"_wwwwwwwwwwhhhhhhhhhhhhhhyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy_?"

"for the last time, I said no, period!"

"but daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!"

He turned to his partner. "Chihiro, you can step in at any time!"

She had both her hands massaging her forehead. "Minako, you can go tomorrow."

"yes! Thanks, mom!" she rushed into her room before her father could say anything.

"Chihiro!"

"Taro, please, I don't have any aspirin!"

He took a seat beside her and sighed deeply. "you know why I don't want her to go-"

"Taro!" she yelled. "if I have to go through this one more time I'm gonna go mad! Hotaka is _not_ possessed by Katsu! It's impossible!"

"it's not impossible, it's just very, very, very, very, very... _very_ unlikely." In his mind, he kept going through how incredibly idiotic that sounded. "Chihiro, just listen to me, even if he isn't possessed, I really don't trust him."

"why? Just because Minako trusts him?"

"well... yeah! Exactly! She trusts him too much! Which is why I don't!"

----------------------------------------------------

wow... he's an _idiot_! Sorry it took so long but I'm so VERY bored! I can't write/type when I'm bored!

-sings- I think I've got a lot of friends but I don't hear from them... what's another night al alone? When you're spending everyday on your own? And here it goes...

I'm just a kid and life is a nightmare! I'm just a kid I know that it's not fair! Nobody cares coz I'm alone and the world is having more fun than meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee... tonight...

Pierre is HOT! Please review...


	20. kicked out

It feels so strange to type 'mum' with an 'o'... yes, that's my random comment for the day.

Please don't think the story's starting to lose its meaning! It might seem like everything I'm writing at the moment is pointless but it's building up! I have SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much drama to get through!!!!

Has everyone heard 'Heaven 911'? I heard it such a long time ago but only just associated it with Hotaka!!

I'll give you a TINY spoiler: "…heart problems?" :P (longest chapter yet!)

------------------------------------------------

(A/N: there's actually no point in going through all the school stuff. Yumi's been her mean self, bullying Minako, blah, blah, blah... so Hotaka and Minako are walking home)

"Are you sure your mom doesn't mind?" Minako asked as they walked up through the driveway.

Hotaka shrugged his shoulders. "She's not here but I'm sure she wouldn't anyway."

"What do you mean? Your mom left you with Haruki? Where is she?"

"First of all, I'd never let her leave me with Haruki. Second, they're not here; they're on their honeymoon-"

"Honeymoon?!" she stopped and stared at him in confusion. "They got married? You didn't tell me?"

"I didn't? Oh... must've forgotten. Anywho, they're not gonna be back for another few weeks and I thought I'd take advantage of this opportunity."

Minako could imagine him throwing a party for the entire school with alcohol, pizza and a whole lot of other junk – even some girls ending up pregnant. Hotaka wasn't like what a few of his ex-girlfriends made him out to be, he was decent and always thoughtful. He seemed practically perfect in every way but it made her wonder; does he have any faults?

They entered the huge house. Well, it wasn't actually as big as you'd expect it to be but it was to Minako since she was used to that small apartment. But it _was_ a really big mess. "Um... sorry. I'm not exactly the best at cleaning... as you may have guessed," he smiled, running a hand through his hair in shame. There was a whole lot of food packets and boxes spread across the hallway – mostly pizza boxes, cola bottles and chocolate wrappers. "Yeah, I'm a bit of a pig..." he admitted.

"Just a little bit..." she said a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Are you hungry?"

"Only if you can cook."

"Me? Cook?" he laughed. "Nah, I meant get a take out."

Minako glanced at her surroundings once more. "How long have you been alone for?"

"Just a few days." He responded.

"You do realise it's dangerous, don't you?" She said, following him through the hallway and into the kitchen. "What if something happens to you and you can't get help? What if you run out of money?" the kitchen was slightly cleaner. Then again, that could be because he had had no need for dishes. The surfaces were so clean that at first glance, you'd think they were mirrors.

"Quit worrying, would you? The only danger I can think of is not being able to find my keys under all this junk." He made his way to a phone hung on the wall. "Now, you want pizza?"

Minako sighed and shrugged.

"What toppings?"

She shrugged once more. Hotaka mimicked her and picked up the receiver. Meanwhile, Minako stared out of the window just above the sink. They even had a pool! The place was practically remote anyway! Just the kitchen looked bigger than their apartment and the house would probably seem as big as the entire estate they lived in. If it were clean, it'd look perfect.

Then Minako began to wonder again... she'd always thought Hotaka was practically perfect in everyway but has just recently found out that he can't cook or clean. There _had_ to be something else he couldn't do.

"What are you looking at?" Hotaka asked, hanging up and going to stand by her side and hopefully find out what's so interesting.

"Um... nothing, it's just that well... this place is huge!"

Hotaka remained silent for a while. He then took a deep breath and began to speak again. "Minako, about the dance. Are you sure you're okay with going with me?"

She looked at him in surprise. "Uh... yeah. Of course. Why would you think-?"

"Yumi. I thought that coz she was giving you a hard time because of me that you wouldn't want to go anymore... with me, that is."

She smiled at Hotaka at threw her arms around his neck. Hotaka felt his heart want to jump out and hug her too. "You idiot!" Minako yelled, squeezing him closer. "You think I'd let something as small as that get between our friendship? You're my best friend and no one, especially not Yumi, is going to change that!" Hotaka eventually returned the hug but by that time, Minako had already loosened her grip.

"Uh... sorry," he said. "I was just getting paranoid again."

About half an hour had passed and the two had seated themselves outside by the pool with their pizza. Minako removed her shoes and sat at the edge with her feet paddling in the water. Hotaka was watching but noticed that she was awkwardly placed further away from it than what seemed comfortable. "It's not gonna kill you to move a little closer, you know," he told her.

"I don't want to move closer. It's too deep." Minako said, peering down. _I shouldn't be afraid of water_, she told herself. _Dad is the spirit of a river! How the hell can I be scared of my own father's river?!_

"Too deep? Are you scared of deep water?"

"Well... you would be too if you'd almost drowned!"

He thought back to that time and remembered how they'd rolled down the hill, and that's where Minako told him she couldn't swim. Then he recalled trying to save her and how she'd just suddenly disappeared. How did she get onto the grass again? How did her father get there when it took less than thirty seconds to happen? "Minako... w-what happened back then?"

"Huh?"

"You... you were drowning and I went to try and pull you up to the surface but... as I was reaching out, you'd disappeared. And how did you dad get there?"

She hesitated. "Uh... the, um... the water must've gotten to you..." Minako tried to smile but Hotaka could see straight through her mask.

"

"Minako, I don't want you to lie to me. _Or _try to avoid the truth."

"Well, I'd love to tell you the truth but you'd think I'm mad."

Hotaka also removed his shoes and sat beside her, allowing the water to reach his ankles. Only, he was sitting comfortably. "I'd never think that about you." he picked up a slice of the pizza behind them and shoved it in his mouth.

Minako sighed. "Well, my dad's a spirit that can turn into a dragon and now I'm a dragon, too."

His expression did not change. He just kept his gaze on Minako with his slice of pizza hanging out of his mouth. "Well, um... define 'mad' for me."

"Hotaka!" Minako kicked him away from her, causing him to almost fall into the pool. "I swear, I'm telling the truth! He transformed and dived in before you could get to me!"

"Yeah, I was only kidding, I really do believe you." He was already half-way through his first slice with one bite. "Anyway, I had a feeling there was something different about you from that day."

She waited for him to say something else but all Hotaka did was eat more. He soon realised that she was staring at him in confusion. "… What?"

"Uh… nothing… it's just that I thought you'd be just a little but more… surprised?"

"To be honest, I would have thought I'd be more surprised too but… hey, what do you look like as a dragon?" he asked.

"Um…" Minako was hoping she didn't have to show him; she was embarrassed about herself looking more like a lizard. "Just… white scales and cream fur. Nothing too nice."

"Could you transform or shape shift or whatever it is you do. Could you do it now?" Hotaka requested, hopefully.

Minako sighed. "I haven't quite gotten the hang of it yet but…" she closed her eyes and tried to picture herself as a dragon again. Unlike the first time she transformed, she could feel her teeth growing longer and sharper; her skin changing its shape; her hands growing claws and her hair morphing and shrinking slightly to fit the shape of her mane. Opening her eyes, she saw the expression on Hotaka's face was ever so slightly more shocked. She growled in satisfaction.

"Wow…" he began. "You're really pretty as a dragon… uh! Not that you're not pretty anyway! I just meant… um… well, coz you're pretty normally; you're _also_ very pretty-!"

Minako whipped her tail around to whack her friend straight into the water. She sat and watched him struggle to get back to the edge of the pool while she just sat in a proud dragon pose, her smile made her look evil with her sharp teeth. "You bitch!" Hotaka pulled himself up, gasping.

Minako's face shot towards him threateningly so that they were now nose-to-nose. She growled to him a warning which she knew he wouldn't understand but made him wish he'd kept his mouth shut. "Um… okay?" he gulped. "Hey, wait… you said that you're dad saved you by diving into the water. So basically, he just flew in and the current of the river guided him back to the top. You could do that, right?" he suggested.

She shook her long head frantically, looking fearfully at the water and backing away a little. She changed back to her human form. "My dad can fly. But I can't. Even if I could, I know I'd be too afraid to go anywhere near the water."

-star- -star- -star-

(About 8.00pm)

Hotaka was walking Minako home. She had hardly eaten any of the pizza – the slice she did eat was just nibbled on. Come to think of it, Hotaka had never seen her eat; at lunch, she claimed that she was too distracted by Yumi and her clones to eat. "do you _ever _eat?" he randomly asked after a long period of silence.

"what makes you say that?"

"well, coz I've never actually seen you eat. Like the pizza?"

"well… it had cheese on it. I'm lactose intolerant." She answered as they entered the lift.

Hotaka thought for a moment and they were carried up. "what about at lunch?"

"don't you remember? _You_ got it for me. Almost everything had dairy products in them."

"you could have said something, you know., instead of letting me starve you-"

"no! of course not! I never actually get my lunch anyway!"

"pft. No wonder you're so skinny…"

The lift door opened and the two stepped out. Minako reached to knock on the door but it opened before she could even touch it. "oh… you're back…" Taro said with a look of depression plastered on his face. He turned to Hotaka but his expression did not change. "well, bye." He sauntered his way to the lifts.

"wait! Dad, where are you going?" Minako asked, shutting the door and walking over to her father.

Taro didn't turn to face her. "I'm going home… it's over," he replied.

Hotaka didn't want to say anything to Taro since he knew that he didn't really like him and just stood behind Minako. "over?" she gasped. "what are you talking about?!"

"over! Done! Finished! Through! How clear can I put it?! Your mom and I have _split up_!"

She glanced up at him looking slightly scared.

"I'm… sorry," Taro said. "I didn't mean to shout. I'm gonna go now."

"NO!" Minako screamed, throwing her arms around her father's waist and weeping into it. "you can't leave me now! I only just got you back! Don't leave!"

As Hotaka watched, he couldn't help but remember his own father… he'd never hugged him, and he never intended to.

"Minako, I can't take you with me!" he insisted.

"why not?!" she cried. "… don't you want me?"

"of course I do! Don't ever think I don't want you, Minako! If I could, I'd take you, but I don't know the first thing about taking care of a child! And all your things are here, too."

"you don't have to take care of me, I can take care of myself. And you can just turn into a dragon and-"

"quiet!" he said, looking at Hotaka, who didn't look like he was listening anyway.

"dad, it's okay… he knows."

Taro stared at her. "I thought I told you not to tell anyone."

"I know but… he's my best friend. Besides, he can't tell anyone or they'll think he's mad!"

He sighed, knowing he didn't have the time to argue. "look, I've got to go." He pried Minako off of him and walked into the lift.

"NO! I'm going with you and there's nothing you can say to stop me!" she stood disobediently by his side. Hotaka followed quietly.

"if you're _really_ not going to give up then… fine. But you're still going to school!"

Minako folded her arms, trying to think up countless excuses to how she could skip.

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yeah, so Taro/Haku (whatever you want to call him) has been kicked out… here's were all the action comes in! please review!


	21. encounter

I thought you might like to know this:

Obviously Minako is 13, going on 14.

Hotaka is 14.

Yumi is 14.

Taro is 31.

Chihiro is 29. Just in case you couldn't be bothered figuring it out yourself!

-----------------------------

(Next morning)

Minako had slept in her father's bed while he slept on the floor of the living room... His home – which happened to be another apartment he'd been living in while looking for Chihiro – was actually really nice; all the walls were painted white, except for the one where the window was, which was black. The drapes were white to give a nice dramatic contrast. He had no couches, just a load of dark green and black cushions placed around a low table. Taro had said that if he'd been living there for thirteen years, he'd want it to be a little bit more comfortable. There was a spare room that Minako could've slept in but because Taro had been living alone, he'd turned it into a storage room.

"Dad, wake up," Minako said, shaking her father to try and get him up.

"Mmh hmm..." he groaned and nodded vaguely before turning away from his daughter, pulling the blanket over his head.

Minako snatched the whole thing away from him, causing Taro to hunch over with the cold. "Get up!" she urged.

Taro grabbed his pillow and buried his head underneath it, complaining about how early it was. Minako grunted in frustration, pushing and shoving her dad continuously. "What is it with you?!" she tried taking the pillow away too but he had a really tight grip on it. Minako eventually abandoned that idea and went into the kitchen.

Taro sighed and relaxed. She'd finally stopped, and now he could just sleep. Suddenly, something freezing cold hit his back. "YEEEEOOWW!!" he yelled, shooting up to see Minako with an empty glass of really cold water in her hands tipped upside down. "Alright, I'm up! What do you want?!" said a drenched Taro. (A/N: lolz...)

"I'm going to school," she stated.

"Is that all?!"

"no." she set the cup down onto the glass table. "Mom's probably gonna be looking for me; how am I gonna get back here?"

He rubbed his face and yawned. "Stay in school – ACHOO!" he sneezed. "Oh, thanks, I feel a cold coming on…" Taro sniffed. He grabbed the blanket back and wrapped it around his body and head, only showing his face. "Wait in the gym and I'll come for you… it _is_ the same place your mom went to, right?" he was trying to remember the time he'd watched Chihiro there when she was younger, climbing the rope; then she'd lost her balance because she'd almost spotted him.

"Yes, it's the same place."

He stood up, holding tightly onto the cover and dragged himself to the kitchen where he boiled the kettle. "You'll have to try and find me," he called through his nose, rummaging for a mug. "I'll be in my dragon form so I'm gonna be hiding." Taro reached into the fridge and pulled out a few tablets to gulp down.

Minako left. Luckily, she had most of her things with her when she went to Hotaka's home. It was raining that day so she had to run most of the way; eventually Minako got tired out and ended up standing in the rain, struggling to get her breath back. She wasn't even half way there. It was still pouring down but she could no longer feel it. Minako looked up to see Hotaka smiling down at her. "You know, I wonder if the person who invented umbrellas was in the same situation as you," he laughed.

"Shut up, asshole, you're not funny."

"Only trying to help... so what happened?" he asked, referring to last night.

"Nothing really. My dad just gonna pick me up after school in case my mom's looking for me," Minako explained as they continued walking.

Hotaka said nothing after that. He knew she wouldn't be able to see him at the river for a while but wouldn't mention anything because he didn't want her to feel guilty. "The dance is coming soon..." he said.

"huh?" she said, completely flustered. Then she remembered that today was Wednesday.

"After tomorrow," he said. "I can't wait to see you in that dress."

She shook her head and kept walking which caused Hotaka to stumble behind her to keep from her getting wet – even if it was him that was getting soaked.

Yumi was sitting in total envy as usual, staring at Minako as if looks could kill. Hotaka tried to distract her by staying with a conversation about any old random thing. He tried to convince Minako that Yumi had already accepted that he wasn't going out with her anymore. "She still looks like she's planning to murder me, though," Minako worried.

"That's because she probably is. Just forget about her, she won't give you any trouble as long as I'm around." He sounded more like a teacher trying to prevent bullying – then completely failing.

"No, you don't get it! She's been spreading rumours about me and now, because she's really popular, it's become the biggest gossip topic around the school."

Hotaka sighed. "Look, I keep telling her that you're not a whore or anything like that but-"

"No! She says that I convinced you to cheat on her with me. I keep telling then we're not going out together but they won't listen!"

"Just ignore them, they'll stop soon, I promise."

-star- -star- -star-

Minako arrived at the school's gym and looked around. She couldn't find Taro anywhere, she even went outside to search for him but found nothing. Then there came a sneezing sound from somewhere above. "Dad?" she looked up to the roof to see a green-furred dragon, eyes tightly shut, hiding its head under its claws. "Dad, hiding just your head is barely the best disguise I've ever seen."

He shook his head, still covering muzzle. Taro growled an explanation to why he was doing that which Minako could just barely make out: something about him banging his nose while sneezing. It was funny both ways. The dragon flew down and picked up his daughter. Minako still wasn't used to flying so she clung onto his body like a lifeline.

Taro streamlined through the window of his apartment, almost crash landing into most of the furniture. Minako was thrown onto the pile of cushions, Taro crashed onto the floor, where he lay panting. "Dad?!" she ran to her father – who actually looked like he was dying. The dragon transformed back into his human form and stumbled through to the kitchen where he got the same tablets out again. He tossed them down his throat and stood still for a moment. Soon Taro could walk normally and breathe normally so returned to the heap of pillows. He collapsed onto them like he'd just lost consciousness.

"Dad, are you okay?" said a slightly scared Minako.

"Yeah," he rasped. "I'm fine..."

"a-are you sure? Coz I can call a doctor over-"

"No! No, no doctors. I'm okay, really!" he assured her. "Did you want something?"

Now Minako didn't want to ask him to get her things from her from her mother's apartment. He looked too weak to do anything at the time. "No," she shook her head. "I was just worried about you. That's all."

"What is it you want?" he asked again.

"Nothing!"

"Just say it and I'll get it!" Taro ordered, vaguely knowing what she wanted to ask.

"Really, dad, it's okay!"

"Minako, I'm already going to get your clothes, is there anything else you need?"

"Alright... I want my dress for the dance. It's under my bed. You don't have to go if you're not up to it!"

Taro rose, making his way to his bedroom. Minako thought he'd finally given in but to her surprise, he walked out with a large bag in his hands. "I should be back in about twenty minutes." He transformed, grabbing the bag in his mouth and flying out.

He got to the window of Minako's room and clung onto the edge so he could try and get it open. Soon he managed to get in and changed back to his human form so he could get all of the things sorted. He got the box out from under the bed thinking up ways of how to stop from going with Hotaka. Now he had to search through the wardrobe, which he was dreading. He didn't want to have to pack girl's underwear. "ACHOO!" he sneezed again, quickly covering his mouth and wishing it hadn't happened.

"Taro?!" Chihiro burst through the door. "What have you done with Minako?!" she yelled.

"I haven't done anything! She wanted to come home with me!" he yelled back, standing up and approaching her.

"Stay away from me, you bastard!" Chihiro tried to push him away but didn't have enough strength to even be able to nudge him; she wasn't going to give up; she just kept trying to shove him. It was like the tears that streamed down her face were draining her of her energy.

Taro grabbed her wrists and just stared at her.

"I just…" she sobbed. "… I just want my daughter back…!"

Taro pulled her into his arms and allowed her to cry into his chest. "Chihiro, like it or not, Minako is _my_ daughter too-"

"No!" she screamed, pulling out of his grasp. "You weren't the one who spent months waking up every night then had to somehow work for the money to feed Minako! You weren't the one trying to cope as a single parent for thirteen years! And you certainly weren't the one who tried so hard to give her a normal life but have all that effort thrown back in your face!"

"Chihiro, don't even think about blaming me for all of this. If you hadn't have left me, I would've been there for you both!" he threw the last of the clothes into the bag and swung it over his back. He walked over to the open window and swung one leg over-

"Wait! Don't just leave! You and Minako both have the police after you; I could call them right now and tell them you're here!"

"Then what?" he smirked, hanging over the edge. "Tell them you're sorry but you're former partner turned into a mythical creature and flew out of the window? Yeah right… if anyone's to blame..." just as he was about to jump, he added. "... Its you." then he threw himself off the edge. Chihiro gasped and ran to see if he was alright but as she peeked over the edge, a blur of white and green flashed before her.

Minako was waiting patiently on the floor. She heard footsteps come form behind her. "Twenty-three minutes," she announced.

"What?"

"You said you'd be twenty minutes; it was twenty-three minutes." She was so bored she had actually started to count the minutes that went past. "Did mom find you?"

He nodded and put the bag down by her side. "Don't worry, she still doesn't know where we are but know the police are after us. I don't even think it's safe for you to go to school unless you want to go back to your mom."

"No, of course I don't. I don't love her anymore, dad..."

He stopped. His body felt numb with the guilt that flooded his mind and it seemed that nothing Taro could do would shift it. He never wanted to turn Minako against her mother but somehow he did. No. he and Chihiro were the ones to drag her into this. It was partly his own fault for having such a temper but then partly Chihiro's fault for not telling him about her pregnancy. "Minako, please say you don't mean that!" he said.

"But I do!" she answered. "Mom's always angry at me for the smallest of things and then I found out that she was lying to me all my life. How could I love such a person?"

Understanding both sides of the argument proved very confusing for Taro, especially when only just fell into place for him. He sat on a cushion next to his daughter and sighed. "Listen, I know it sounds weird but... she's only like that because she loves you. Chihiro's had to work really hard to get money ever since she found out she was pregnant with you. She's only angry because she's stressed and you had problems with your behaviour too, right?"

"... So... does that mean..." she began, her voice lowering until it was almost a whisper. "... Does that mean it's my fault...?"

"Oh God, no!" he pulled her into a hug, softly stroking her fluffy hair. "No, it's not your fault at all! You mother loves you, _I_ love you! Don't you think she'd have put you up for adoption if she didn't love you? But she kept struggling for you." He felt a small part of his shirt dampen from Minako's tears; it just made him pull her closer to him, cradling Minako in his arms... "She cried for you and even thought you might have been hurt. She said she wants you back..."

She tried to hide her hiccup but Taro could feel the slight jump.

"There's no need to cry Minako. Whatever happens, you'll always be safe, I promise."

For some reason, all Minako wanted to when she heard those two words was scream and runaway. 'I promise...' the words would echo around her mind; knowing that people were always trying to make her happy but it hardly ever works. She was just wasting their efforts. They all try so hard and get nowhere.

"I'm going to school tomorrow..." she sucked in her tears and lifted herself from her father's chest. "You need to sleep, dad." She pressed a hand to his forehead. "You're starting to get a fever. Go to bed and I'll make you a cup of tea."

Taro smiled. "Hey, there's really no need for that, I'll be fine, Min-"

"NOW!"

He obeyed her commands and gathered the pillows on the floor.

"What are you doing?" Minako asked.

"Um... making a bed?"

"No, go to your room to sleep!" she was acting like the over protective mother he never had. "I'll sleep here tonight.

"Its okay, Minako, I'll stay here-!"

"NOW!"

Taro quickly picked himself up and speed-walked to his room without another word.

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I wonder if this is the longest chapter I've ever written on FF? Anyway, if you like, you review. If you don't like, still review... lolz.

What comes first; the manga or the anime? Specifically referring to 'Rurouni Kenshin'...


	22. confessions

-ahem, ahem- appreciate these chapters, all summer I've done nothing but cough my way to an early grave... plus I wasn't willing to take that _awful_ cough medicine, BLAH! –gets a chest infection attack-thingy and dies!-

-comes back from the dead to write again- ... yeah, I didn't quite think that death through... hey, has anyone else noticed that the emailing system's messed up again? I don't know when I get reviews! .;;

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Minako awoke the next morning and got dressed for school. She wondered if going was such a good idea; Taro would probably be too sick to come; Yumi is going to do nothing but make her life more of a nightmare; and she'd have to be careful that her mother wouldn't have police surrounding the area. She went to check on Taro to make sure he was feeling a little better. After all, it was her fault he'd caught the cold in the first place.

Taro was sleeping with his legs tightly held to his chest and all the blankets he could find piled above him. She smiled at her father, slowly and quietly pulling the door shut. It'd be best if she did go to school and try to get home by herself. Minako decided that she'd get out the tablets Taro had been taking and leave them on the bedside table.

-star- -star- -star-

"Minako?" said Hotaka, during their lunch break. They'd both sat outside on the grass with a couple of books out to revise for their science exam. "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Yeah, sure," she replied, her head still buried in one of the giant text books.

He hesitated slightly. "... um... the thing is... uh..."

Minako closed the book and put it down beside her. "Say it again without stuttering."

"Well... remember when I told you that I broke the window of Haruki's new car... then the next day I attacked him and didn't remember any of it?"

"Yeah... did it happen again or something?" she asked.

Hotaka nodded, not looking particularly proud of himself. He turned his head do that he was facing the grass. "... My mom called me last night. She thought I was supposed to be at a friend's house while they were away but I didn't want to stay with any of the other guys so I stayed at home. She asked why I was there and that's where I couldn't control myself. I don't know what I said but I know it was all a lie. When I finally could speak for myself, all I heard her say was 'that's great. You're such a good boy; I'll see you in a few weeks.' I don't know what's happening..."

"Everybody tell a little white lie once in a while. And it's probably coz you don't normally lie that it was all a blur-"

"No, that's not it. I keep thinking it's really a different person."

Minako changed her sitting position, getting a bit uncomfortable so that she was facing Hotaka. "You mean like an alter ego?"

"No. I think I'm going mad. I started talking to myself last night." His cheeks turned a light rosy colour as he struggled to keep from making eye contact.

"Don't you think it's because you've been living by yourself?"

He shook his head, sighing. "It's like a real voice in my head."

Minako stared at him for a while longer before reaching her not-so-helpful conclusion. "You know, I think you should just keep telling yourself that it's all just in your head and it'll go away."

_Well, duh! I said it was in my head, didn't I?_ He thought to himself. Then felt a little part of him feel a little nervous; he would never think that to Minako and knew it wasn't him thinking it so he mentally told himself to shut up. "Thanks..." he smiled. "Thanks for always being there for me."

"Well I'm sure anyone else would do the same thi-"

"You really don't get it, do you? _No one_ in this school would ever be that nice. If I'd told anyone else that I thought I was hearing voices in my head, it'd be half way around the entire building in the next five minutes! I'd be the biggest loser ever!" he sat up in the same position as Minako so they were both directly facing each other.

"I'm a loser…" she reminded him.

"Yeah, but I still love you."

Minako stopped. "Um... what?" she asked, after pausing to make sure she'd heard him correctly.

"I love you, Minako." Hotaka slid a hand behind her head to pull her to his lips. Minako was too shocked to even gasp.

In the distance, Yumi stomped her foot in anger. "She is such a bitch!" she said with clenched fists.

"Don't get all worked up about it, Yumi!" said Clone One. "Hotaka probably just feels sorry for her coz she doesn't have any friends!"

"Yeah!" agreed Clone Two. "And he's probably only kissing her coz she's never had a real boyfriend before!"

She pouted and folded her arms. (A/N: grr, I hate that preppy thing they do... no, take it back, I have a few prep friends who are really nice!) "Tomorrow, he'll come crawling back to me when he sees how gorgeous I look. He'll do anything to get me back, just wait and see!"

Hotaka still had hold of Minako, who was still paralysed. Then his tongue tried to push her teeth open while he used his free arm to pull her closer to his body. That's when Minako couldn't do it anymore and pushed him away. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" she gasped.

"Um... kissing you?" he offered, modestly. "I love you!"

"Don't do that _ever_ again! And don't _say_ that ever again!" she screamed at him.

"What? That I love you?" he grinned innocently.

"Shut up!" she pressed her hands to her ears tightly.

Hotaka gave a sharp cry of pain, whipping his hand up to his chest where the agony had started.

Minako gasped. "a-are you okay...?" she asked with concern as she saw Hotaka struggling to breathe.

He gulped, trying his best to regain his usual breathing pattern. "... Yeah... I'm fine..." he took his hand away from his chest and smirked at her.

"What happened?"

"Nothing..." the school bell rang loudly. _Saved by the bell..._

Minako couldn't speak to him normally for the rest of the day, acting really edgy whenever she thought they got too close. Hotaka knew what she was doing and began to regret confessing to her. He just hoped that Minako would be back to normal by tomorrow, otherwise the dance would be really awkward and pointless.

During the science exam, Minako kept her head down, trying to concentrate on the questions but found that her mind on other things and too busy to focus. She shut her eyes tightly, trying to push out any thoughts that weren't relevant. She only had about five more questions to go but she knew that she was just rushing through the rest and probably got most of them wrong. She heard voices talking, quite loudly, and wondered if the teacher realised it. Then she noticed that it wasn't coming from their class, but from outside of the school. Two people. They were talking... about her:

"Brown hair and green eyes, she said. Name's Ogino Minako?" she heard from the female of the two as they got out of the car.

"Shouldn't be too hard. Are you sure this is the right school?" the man asked.

"It has to be." Minako could hear the footsteps approaching the gates.

She silently gasped, knowing her mother had sent them. She quickly scribbled down any answer on the paper and raised her hand. Hotaka watched her in confusion.

"Minako, are you finished?"

"Yes." She hurried down to their teacher's desk and put the paper down. "Can I go to the bathroom, please?"

"You've just had your lunch break, you should've went then!" he said to her. "You should've gone then!"

"But…" she tried to think of a reasonable excuse.

"Oh… are you…?"

"Um…" she said before realising what the teacher meant. "… Yes! And I have to go!"

She ran out of the room. In the hallway, she heard more talking. They were asking the receptionist were she was… and now they were heading her way. She held her breath and panicked for a place to run. She couldn't go to the bathroom because that's where the teacher will send them. She couldn't go to the gym because there may be a class there. She couldn't just walk out. There was only one other thing she could think of:

Minako transformed as fast as she could and jumped onto the lockers, hoping they wouldn't spot her there if she curled up in the corner.

They just walked by like she wasn't even there! She sighed in relief and ran in her dragon form towards the doors. She sneaked passed the receptionist – luckily she was small and quiet enough to get through the door without her noticing.

As soon as she got out and was sure that no one was around, she changed back and ran home.

-star- -star- -star-

She banged on the door of the apartment. "Dad! Dad, open the door!" she urged.

There was a stumble and a sneeze before the door finally opened. "Shouldn't you be in school?" Taro asked, leaning on the door frame for support.

"Dad, they came!"

"Who?"

"The police! I heard them outside and got out of class before they got to me!" she ran into the apartment. She was in such a rush to get out that she left her things there.

"It's okay, Minako, they can't possibly know where we are now."

"How can you be so sure?" she asked.

"The only people that know me are you and your mom."

Minako still couldn't help but feel nervous. How was she going to get to the dance tomorrow? What if they were going to surround the area? It was probably two hours that had passed and Minako had already gotten dressed and was feeling a little hungry.

"You're not going, Minako. You can't go," Taro said after a long while of silence.

"What?! But, dad, the dance is _tomorrow_! I can't just back out now!" she argued. She was now in the kitchen, looking for something decent to eat.

"You can't go," he said, firmly. He was sitting tightly in the pile of cushions with blankets everywhere. "The police are probably gonna be there and… I saw you with Hotaka, and I don't like it-"

"Why do you always have to spy on me?!" she said, stepping out of the kitchen after having no luck in finding good food.

"Minako, it's obvious that you didn't like it and I could see that he was forcing you! I don't even want to think about what he'll be doing next!"

"How could you think that?!" she had to admit, though, she _was_ being forced into the kiss but Hotaka did stop when it was clear that she didn't want to do it. "He's my friend! I trust him!"

"Too much!" he coughed and wasn't able to stop for at least half a minute. He took a deep breathe before continuing. "You told him you're a dragon… You weren't supposed to tell anyone at all!"

"Dad, Hotaka and I are going together! Who else is he-!"

There was a knock at the door. Minako quickly went to answer it to see Hotaka standing there with her books in his hands. "Hey, Minako!" he smiled.

She stared at him for a moment. "H-how did you know where we were?"

He shrugged and handed the things over to her. She took them and thanked him. "You didn't have to come here. I would've been in school tomorrow."

"I know… But I wanted to see you. Besides, people are gonna start asking where you went, and why. Then they're gonna ask why were the police after you. Then you're gonna get in trouble for running away. What do you think you're gonna tell them?"

She sighed, realising how stupid her actions were. "I don't know. How am I going to get to the dance without them following me there and back here…?"

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Didn't think I'd EVER say this but... FINALLY! THE SUMMER'S OVER! Don't shoot me... -shifty eyes-


	23. he's trouble

Late update… Apologies! Forgive me, I'm an idiot! My tiny brain can't keep up with demands and worst of all, I'm planning another story for Fruits Basket and having stacks of ideas for Howl's Moving Castle! ARGH! –runs outside screaming with her hands in the air-)

Yay! Finally started a fanfic for HMC!! -new story dance-

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Taro was still stuck under his pillows the next morning. He didn't seem worried at all about being discovered, more about his cold. Minako was still worried about what would happen at the dance, or if she would be allowed to go anyway. They'd decided that she wouldn't go to school that day to avoid any questions from teachers and students.

It was already well passed 3.00pm and Minako was now in the kitchen, making Taro something to eat even though he insisted that all he needed were the tablets. She made a cup of tea and a small sandwich that she knew he probably wouldn't eat anyway.

"Dad, you have to eat something! What are those tablets anyway?" she asked as she approached the half-conscious father.

He groaned and sat up straight, rubbing his head. "Minako, my focus has completely drained so try not to ask too many questions…" he glanced at the tray in her hands. "Where are the tablets?"

She sighed. "They're not doing you any good, dad. Besides, you should eat first." She set the tray on the table and sat down, and smiled innocently. "… um… the dance is tonight…" in her voice she hinted slightly.

"I've already told you, I don't want you to go…" he yawned, bringing the tea to his lips. "Nice tea, though…"

"But that's not fair! Why won't you let me go?"

"Because I don't like Hotaka." He sipped happily. "He looks dodgy."

She pouted defiantly and folded her arms tightly. "No he doesn't; you just want an excuse to hate him!" Minako screamed.

Taro kept an even tone as he spoke. "Maybe, maybe not. I still don't want you to go."

Minako sighed and wrapped her arms around her father's neck. "Please, dad… I never go out with friends; I've never even _had_ real friends. Just this once, can I go? I swear I won't go out with Hotaka again if it'll make you happy, I'm just asking for this one night… please?"

His face remained expressionless. He didn't look as if he was going to reply so Minako planted a loving kiss on his cheek and at once his hard emotions seemed to melt. "… I'm not saying you can go yet… but I'll think about it, if it's what you want."

Minako's face instantly lit up as she hugged him tighter. "Thanks, dad… I love you…"

Taro paused and smiled thoughtfully to himself. "I love you, too, Minako." He returned the hug with one hand, the other still holding the tea. He ran a hand through her hair and kissed her on the forehead then resting his head gently on hers while playing with a few strands of her brown locks. Not even her mother had ever made her feel so safe and loved.

A sudden headache hit Taro fiercely. He stood up abruptly and quickly went over to the fridge to swallow a few more tablets. "Dad?"

There was a knock at the door. Minako quickly got up to answer it to find Hotaka waiting on the other side. "Hey. Um… I just came to see if you want me to pick you up or something. I was gonna ask in school but you weren't there."

"Yeah, I was looking after my dad. I didn't want to risk coming in coz of yesterday." She stepped out the apartment with the door less than an inch open. "I'd prefer it if you didn't pick me up, I'll just meet you there. Dad's still on the boarder line of letting me go."

"Oh…" he sounded disappointed even though he still held his smile. "… It doesn't matter if you can't go. It's just another dance to me."

"But not to me; it's my first. I really want to go with you, Hotaka." She smiled at him, making his widen.

Hotaka leaned his head closer to hers, causing Minako to back away but hit the wall behind her. She shook her head vigorously, wanting him to stop but gradually his lips met hers.

The apartment door swung open. Hotaka and Minako both stared in shock to see Taro standing there was a face full of fury. It scared them both. Hotaka slowly backed away from Minako. "Um… I'm gonna go get ready… I'll see you some other time…" he walked away as casually as he could without showing how worried he was.

As soon as he was out of sight, Taro turned to his daughter who was still in shock. "Do you see what I mean? He's trouble!"

Minako regained her sense of reality. "He didn't mean it, dad! Really, he's just… uh…" she couldn't find a reasonable excuse.

"Whatever it is, I don't care! I saw what he was trying to do to you! What if I hadn't have been here? You sure didn't look like you were going to fight him off!" he grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her back inside, firmly gripping so she couldn't just slide out. "There's no way you can get me to trust him now!"

"Dad! He's not normally like this! Give him a chance!"

"I thought about giving him a chance but then I saw what he tried to do! He's sick!" he warned, allowing her to sit down while he continued his lecture. "How do you expect me to trust someone like that?!"

"Because _I_ do!" she shouted back at him. "If I can trust someone, you should learn to trust them too! I can choose my own friends!"

"It doesn't look like it so far!"

"That's it!" she screamed, standing up firmly. "You're too suspicious of everyone you don't know and you pounce of anything negative just so you don't have to give them a second chance!"

She stormed her way to the door, slamming it behind her in a mood. Taro groaned, smacking himself in the head and cursing. He kicked the table over, sending it toppling across the room, knocking several things in the process. He buried his head in his hands, frustrated that he'd just created a lot of work for himself. "Damn it… I'm such an idiot…" he mumbled.

Minako gasped as she heard the crash across the hallway but reluctantly decided to ignore the guilt she felt. _I shouldn't feel guilty… it's not my fault. It's his!_ She convinced herself. _It's all his fault!!_ As much as she tried to blame him, it was hard. Minako knew he was just protecting her but wanted so much to be able to deny it. She wants to go with Hotaka and wouldn't let anything her way.

She arrived at the river and settled herself down by a rock to lean on. Sighing, she shut her eyes in hope she would get some much needed rest that she'd missed out on the past few days. She curled up, bringing her knees up as a sudden rush of cold blew through and made her shiver.

Minako wasn't sure how long she had been laid there but she knew the cold weather was making her shake and may make her sick. A patch of warmth rubbed her shoulder. A hand. She decided to keep still like she was still sleeping. The hand moved itself but she felt something else – bigger – drop over her gently. It felt quite cold at first but against her skin it began to warm up. The hands returned but this time stroking her hair and moving parts of it out of her face. Lips touched her forehead softly. "I'm sorry…" a masculine voice whispered. It wasn't a clear voice but Minako was pretty sure she knew who it was.

She could hear him sit himself down just behind her and sigh. She faked a yawn and slowly began to turn, stretching and rubbing her eyes. She saw him staring up at the sky like he hadn't noticed her. "… Dad?"

"I'm sorry," Taro repeated. "I didn't mean to be so irrational before. I was so concerned about your safety that I wasn't thinking about your happiness… and I'm sorry."

Minako waited until words would return to her lips. "So… A-are you gonna let me go?"

He sighed. "I don't want you to go… but I have no right to stop you," he smiled at her.

Minako threw her arms around her father's neck. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she screamed with delight. He was burning hot now. His temperature just seemed to keep rising everyday. It can't just be a fever.

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I'll try to update sooner! Please review!!


	24. the dance!

WHOOT! FINALLY GOT TO THE DANCE CHAPTER!!

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Minako had spent most of the rest of that day in the bathroom getting ready. She wasn't going for the flashy look, it was just that the dress, contacts and make-up were really awkward to her and it took a while for her to figure out how it all worked. She finally managed to find the teeny tiny zip on the dress, figured out how to apply make-up simply without smudging and _eventually_ found the courage to fit the little wet blue things in her irises without worrying about poking herself in the eye. She sighed, hoping it would all be worth it.

Taro's fever had gone down slightly and he wasn't sneezing as mush but he was taking those pills like a drug overdose. He still sat under the pillows and blankets like a lost teddy bear, though.

Minako finally left the bathroom, almost ready. She hadn't eaten, and didn't actually intend to – she was too busy to be hungry. "What d'you think?" she asked, stepping in front of her blank father.

He took no notice but kept staring straight ahead like there was an invisible television, only occasionally blinking. She signed at his lack of attention – oh well, she wasn't quite ready yet anyway. The box everything had come in was in Taro's room. As she lifted the lid, she took a moment to admire the jewellery before holding them all in her arms to take to the bathroom mirror, where most of the make-up was scattered. Then, as she set it all down, it occurred to her – earrings.

"My ears aren't pierced…" she whispered to herself. Minako sighed again; all she could do with them now is fiddle with them. But she noticed something – don't earrings usually have the pointed part at the back? She began to examine the little bits of silver (real silver, may I add!). It had the small part to hold it in place but it just looked like it was stuck on. Then – click!

Magnetic earrings. Hotaka must've noticed.

Minako smiled to herself and quickly fitted them on and she was finally ready. She made her way to the door, deciding not to wear a coat since none of her own would go with her dress; plus, if anyone tried anything in the streets she'd use her claws to scratch their perverted eyes out. "Bye, dad!" she called.

Taro, who still looked as if he wasn't paying attention, shoved his blankets and pillows to one side. "Let me take you," he requested.

"no, dad, I'm fine, really!" Minako shook her head. "It's not that far to walk and besides, you're still sick."

Taro looked at her for a second, subconsciously battling with himself what he should say next. Minako patiently waited for him to refuse. He sighed and smiled at his daughter, pulling her tightly into his arms as if she was never coming back. "You look beautiful, Minako. Stay safe."

She pushed away slowly and stared at her father. Arguments filled up about what that was supposed to mean but she compressed them, knowing he meant well, really. Minako just grinned. "I promise to stay safe if you promise to eat something decent and lay off those damn pills." She jumped up to kiss him on the cheek before exiting.

-star- -star- -star-

Minako shivered as the cold hit her. She'd only just stepped out and her bare arms were already freezing. She turned a corner and stopped suddenly as she almost bumped into a tall man wearing a black suit leaning against the fence – it was dark and she could only just make out his height. Actually, he wasn't that tall as her eyes adjusted. He was only just taller than her. The man was staring up at the sky – no. It wasn't a man. It was Hotaka.

"Hotaka?"

He snapped out of his daydream and turned to her, then stopped. He stared down at her with wide eyes and struggling to maintain his usual breathing patterns. "Hotaka, are you okay?" Minako asked.

"Y… You look beautiful…" he commented, resisting the urge to pull her towards him and inhale the scent of her hair.

Minako blushed and looked away from him. Hotaka was wearing a casual suit; black jacket and pants. His black tie loosened halfway down his chest, showing a slight glint from his chain with the top button undone on his white shirt. He was tempted to say those three little words but held them back, knowing Minako wouldn't like it. "Um… we should get going," he said, turning towards the path.

"I told you not to pick me up!" she said, following on after him.

He slid his hands into his pockets. "I didn't pick you up, I just met you outside. That doesn't count, does it?"

She smiled at him. "You're nothing but a smartass, you know that?"

"Oh, all too well," he said. Minako carried on walking until she noticed Hotaka suddenly stop. She whirled back around and saw him on his knees, gripping his chest tightly. He made no sound, trying to hide his pain.

"H-Hotaka… what's wrong?" she leant down beside him quickly and laid a hand on his back.

"I'm… I'm fine…" he let out a breath of relief and stood up again. "We'll take a cab."

He quickly thrust his hand out and immediately stopped a passing cab. He gave him the destination then hurried to hold the door open. Minako stood and stared for a moment. He waited for her a little longer. "You wonna get there or not? Come on!" he grabbed her hand and urged her in, following in after her.

The taxi drove on down the road. Minako kept her distance, edging as close to the window as she could. Hotaka watched her from the corner of his eyes and, if he didn't know she was wearing make-up, he'd say she was blushing… and possibly shivering. "Are you cold?" he asked.

"Um… no, I'm fine," she lied.

"Are you sure? Coz I could always let you wear my jacket-"

"No! I'm okay!!" Minako said quickly. _He's getting too friendly_, she worried.

They arrived at their destination. Minako was about to step out when Hotaka insisted that she waited a moment. He got out and walked over to the door Minako was at and held it open for her. He even held out a hand to help her but she just got out and turned away from her. Minako's face had turned bright red.

Hotaka turned to the driver and whispered something to him – Minako couldn't make out what they were saying even if she did have really good hearing. The driver shook his head at him but Hotaka pulled out a few notes from his pocket and handed them over. The driver looked as though he agreed and drove off somewhere.

"Come on, Minako," Hotaka said, gesturing for her to catch up to him.

There were two people dresses in black at the door. Like the ones who came looking for her the day she ran out of school, but it was two men this time. They stopped the two before they could enter and looked suspiciously at Minako. "are you Minako Ogino?" one asked.

The other came over quickly and looked at her intently. He whispered to his friend; "average height, slim figure, brown hair-"

"but blue eyes!" Hotaka interrupted, overhearing all they were saying. "Minako has green eyes. This is Mei Nakamura."

The two men – who didn't even bother to check if it was her real eye colour exchanged looks before allowing them in.

As they entered the hall side-by-side, Minako was amazed at how crowded it was. The loud music and definite beat made her feel as if her blood was vibrating. The lighting was dark with the odd spotlight flashing around. She gulped as she felt a hand slide around her waist and pull her towards Hotaka. Minako looked up at him, confused. He was wearing a casual yet smug smile, his free hand in his pocket. He leaned closer to her ear and whispered. "Please don't hate me for this…"

He pulled her to his lips by throwing a hand to the back of her head to stop her resisting. _What's he doing?! He won't let me stop it!_ Hotaka finally pulled away and smiled down at her like he'd kissed her a million times before, but his voice was as though he was really regretting it. "I'm sorry. Look into the corner of the room by the buffet where all the most popular girls are; you'll see why I did it."

Minako turned to look through the hundreds of people and saw Yumi glaring at her in envy… and a few guys were staring at her longingly. She looked at Yumi's outfit and grimaced. "It looks like her dress has just been spray painted on it's that tight!"

"Yeah… damn, I knew I should've got you that one!"

"_What_?!"

"Kidding! You look beautiful just the way you are!"

Minako death glared at him. He nervously laughed. "Um… I'll get us drinks." He hurried away, knowing that all he'd be doing is pissing her off if he stayed any longer.

She sighed and leaned against the wall by the door as Hotaka disappeared into the crowd. He was so cute when he got nervous… but he's changed. It's like the bigger the crowd gets, so does his ego. A few minutes later, Minako noticed that people had started to gather. Some were gossiping about what was going on so Minako decided she had nothing better to do than find out.

She pushed her way through the people but couldn't quite make it to get a perfect view so she just peered through everyone's shoulders. She could make out someone had fallen on the floor. _Hotaka had fallen on the floor!_ He looked like he just got a huge blow to the chest and still recovering; two cups of some sort of drink spilt around him but luckily not on him.. Everyone just watched and didn't bother to help. Hotaka was still gasping to get his breath back. "Hotaka!" she screamed, even though she couldn't even hear herself over the noise. Minako stumbled down by his side where he was using one hand to support himself.

"I'm fine, I just fell."

"Hotaka, there's something wrong, isn't there?" she asked, examining him vaguely just in case.

"I said I'm fine, Minako!" Hotaka assured her, starting to get annoyed.

"then why are you on the-?"

"I SAID I'M FINE! JUST LEAVE IT!!" he yelled but quickly threw a hand over his mouth, wishing he could take back his words. "M… Minako, I'm sorry, I didn't mean what I said!"

Minako stared but her blank expression soon turned into disgust as she stood up abruptly and left through the crowd. Hotaka grunted and decided to just fall back down onto the floor, burying his head in his hands and cursing himself.

Minako stomped out through the rear exit of the hall. There wasn't much outside except for a whole forest of grass and a few trees here and there. She huffed and stood outside of the door with her arms folded.

"hey, Minako!" she heard. It wasn't Hotaka's voice, it was the one they both despised; Yumi. "aww, was Hotaka being mean to you?"

"shut up, Yumi. Leave me alone…" she sighed, convincing herself that she would not let _her_ get her down.

She sneered to herself. "you're not giving him the attention he need, are you?"

"attention?" Minako said, forgetting all about her plan to just ignore her.

"you don't even want to kiss him, do you? Shame – he's a real skilful guy." She leant against a nearby wall and playing with her tiny purse. "it's no wonder he came chasing after me…"

"huh? What are you talking about, you little slut?" Minako turned to face her, fists clenched ready to give her a mouthful.

Yumi got out a mirror to check her make-up and just smiled as she did so. Minako was starting to lose her patience. Yumi fluffed up her hair once more before returning the mirror and getting out her phone and just pressed the buttons endlessly. "well, are you gonna tell me what you mean or not?!" Minako screamed.

"give me a second…" after a few more button pushes, she handed her phone to Minako with a video playing. Minako watched reluctantly.

She saw Hotaka picking up a couple of drinks – but she had to admit, the filming was dodgy. Yumi walked up to him seductively and said something, it was unclear what it was exactly. She suddenly threw her arms around Hotaka's neck, pulling their lips together. Minako frowned. "I don't need to see a video of you forcing Hotaka to kiss you!"

"just keep watching," Yumi smiled.

Minako continued to watch – Hotaka dropped the cups and wrapped his arms tightly around Yumi and it looked like he was exploring her body too. Minako shoved the phone back to Yumi who was still grinning smugly. "it's too bad…" she ridiculed. "too bad that you're boyfriend thinks you're boring, Minako."

"Hotaka is _not_ my boyfriend! He's just my friend! Can't you get that through your thick skull?"

She turned away again and continued to look out at nothing. Yumi went back inside, quite proud of herself. Minako folded her arms tightly again. It was absolutely freezing cold, almost sub-zero. For some reason it hurt. To see Hotaka do that hurt a lot. Not that she was jealous – just the fact that he could say he loves her, then kiss her and later just go kissing another girl. Was he really getting bored? _Why the hell should I care if he's getting bored? Or do I not want him to get bored just so I can annoy Yumi…?_

"Minako!" Hotaka came running out by her side.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "what?"

"uh… I just wanted to say sorry again. I didn't mean to shout at you." He lay a hand on her shoulder.

Minako shrugged in off but shivered with the sudden movement. "are you cold?" he asked. "here," he said, quickly sliding the jacket down his arms.

As Minako felt the fabric touch her bare arms and swept it off. "I don't want your fucking jacket! Just leave me alone!"

Hotaka stopped, hurt. "what did I do?"

"what did you do?! God, are you some sort of idiot?!"

"listen, whatever it is, I'm sorry! How many times do I have to say it? I'm sorry… I love you."

"so do you say that to every girl? Did you say that to Yumi when you kissed her?" she asked, deciding to calm down a little.

"Yumi?" Hotaka said, slightly baffled. "but… I haven't kissed her since the time we last went out – weeks ago!"

"don't lie Hotaka," she said, all the tone from her voice completely draining. "I saw the video of you both kissing just two minutes ago."

"what video? I didn't kiss her… all I remember was getting the drinks and suddenly blacking out. I would never-!"

"Hotaka, really!" Minako suddenly smiled up at him. "we're just friends, right? I really don't care if you still like Yumi! I just want you to tell me the truth."

Hotaka watched her raise her smile and maintain it. She really meant what she said. He looked down at his jacket on the floor and picked it up. Minako turned back again to look out once more. Then she heard his voice. "… I'll tell the truth if you do…" she felt the jacket touch her again. "… are you cold?"

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stay tuned! I'm gonna love writing the next chapter!!

Please review!


	25. the dance part two

Minako sighed reluctantly. "No, I'm not cold… I'm freezing." She still didn't face him.

Hotaka smiled at her. He wrapped his arms tightly around her – Minako's gasp made him hug tighter. "Don't worry; I'm just keeping you warm." His arms _were_ warm and so very comforting. Minako still tensed up with the feeling, even tough she enjoyed it. Hotaka inhaled the scent of her soft brown hair and enjoyed thoroughly the softness of her skin. "I love you so much…"

"Oh, just shut up!" Minako shouted, releasing herself from his arms and throwing the jacket straight back in his face. "I'm your _friend_, and _just_ your friend! No matter how many times you say those damn words to me, they won't mean shit because I don't love _you_!"

Hotaka stared at her blankly but the pain was still visible deep in his pale eyes, not sure how to feel at the moment. His heart felt like it had just dropped into a shredder and the bits were blown up inside of him with the blood pouring out like invisible tears. Minako stopped to rethink her words. "Hotaka… I – I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"No, no! It's fine… I don't want to force you into liking me. I just wish I hadn't done this all just to end up looking like an idiot," he said, turning away from her view.

He didn't realise how very wrong he was. Minako was the one who felt like a total idiot. How could she have been so heartless? Slowly, she slipped her hands around her neck to undo the chain then separated the magnets on both her earrings. She slid the ring off of her finger and then took off the high-heeled shoes he'd gotten her. She tapped him on the back to hand him the things. "I'm sorry you wasted your money on me, Hotaka. But… you'll always still be my best friend, I promise." She dropped the things into his arms. "I'm just going to go home… I'll give you the dress back tomorrow at the river… I'm sorry you got mixed up with someone like me. I'm sorry I burdened you with my troubles. I'm sorry for being your friend. I guess I was just afraid of being alone anymore…"

Hotaka didn't reply. She was just scared of being by herself, yet she didn't show it.

Minako turned to walk away. "Minako, wait!" Hotaka called, but Minako didn't turn back, she just carried on walking ahead but before she could reach the door, she felt two hands grab her by the shoulders. "God damn it, Minako! After all this the least you could do is answer me when I call you!" he yelled at her, intentionally.

Minako stopped but didn't reply. He brushed her hair over one of her shoulders as he hooked something icy cold to her neck making her shiver. Suddenly she gasped as he swept his arms behind her knees, making her fall into his arms as he picked her up bridal-style and took her to the nearest thing he could sit her down on. Minako looked up at his face; it was so cold and unemotional… what pained her most was knowing that it was all her fault. He set her down and knelt down to put her shoes back on for her. Not facing her, he began to break the silence. "The only possible way I could be wasting my money is if you give me the stuff back. I bought it so it could be yours, and I want it to stay yours and besides…" he looked up and smiled warmly once more. "… what the hell am I gonna do with girl accessories?"

He held out the earrings for her. Minako looked at them for a second before putting them back on with a shy smile. Hotaka took the ring and slipped it onto her finger like he had just proposed. Minako laughed in a friendly way. "Hotaka, it's usually worn on the other finger," she said.

"I know but… I want you to promise me something."

"… Like what?"

He stood up, holding her hands in his. "I know you don't love me right now but… all I'm asking of you is to try. Maybe one day you'll develop feelings for me – I know they could never be anything as strong as love, but it'll be start. And when we're older… I want to be the first person to propose to you. I'm asking if you'll let me be that first person, and if you'll try to like me as more than just a friend."

She looked up at him. "Why do you have to be so persistent?" she asked, her voice wavering.

"Minako, you said you don't want to be alone anymore. Give me a chance and you won't ever have to be alone again! I'll take care of you forever!" Hotaka held her by the waist to help her down, and then stared out at the scenery. Minako eventually turned to join him when she felt his arms return to her waist, this time pulling her towards him. She gasped, her entire body stiffened at his touch. She shivered as he lowered his head down into the crook of her neck. "Answer the question, Minako. Will you commit yourself to me?"

"Let go," she ordered, making Hotaka instantly releasing her. Minako slid the ring off of her engagement finger and was about to hand it back to him until she saw his hurt expression with his head turned to the side. She looked at it a moment longer but eventually slipping it onto her longest finger instead. "I don't want to marry you, Hotaka. I don't intend to marry anyone. And I certainly don't want to love you or anyone else."

"So what does that mean? You want to be alone for the rest of your life?"

"No. It means I want my best friend to be with me forever without the complications of a relationship."

There was an awkward silence between them. Minako looked up at him and smirked. "Will you take me home?"

"Home?" he said, slightly confused. "We've been here for probably fifteen minutes and you already want to go home?"

She nodded. Hotaka shrugged. "Fair enough." He outstretched his arm to her. Minako laid her hand in his as he dragged her around the building instead of through it. He suddenly stopped once they'd reached the front of the school and looked around. Minako had noticed that the 'men in black' had left – _probably their coffee break_, she thought. He'd finally found what he was looking for and pulled Minako along with him towards the exact same taxi they'd gotten earlier.

They got in. "you know where to, right?" Hotaka asked the driver who nodded in response and started driving. "Do you mind if we take a little detour?" he asked Minako.

"Depends where to," Minako replied suspiciously. "Where are we going?"

Hotaka mimicked zipping his lips closed. "Not telling. Just wait and see."

-star- -star- -star-

Taro sneezed into another tissue and through that onto the mountain piled up in the paper bin. He'd gone completely against Minako by not eating anything at all except for the tablets. He buried himself under the blankets, attempting to fall asleep and forget about the headache he had. His head throbbed harder with the loud crashes and bangs that came from outside. He groaned and peered towards the door when a knock that sounded more like a canon had been fired came. "open up!" shouted a voice.

He moaned before reluctantly swinging his legs over so he could try and stand up. But by that time, the door was kicked down but Taro didn't flinch. "it's him!" an officer shouted.

"what?" said Taro but he was quickly forced up to his feet by two other officers, cuffs fastened around his wrists. Another came in with a dog, growling, sniffing and barking around the place. "hey, no pets allowed!"

The dog managed to sniff his way into the kitchen and was now barking at the fridge. The man 'controlling' the dog opened the door and pulled something out as Taro was dragged outside. "Taro Nigihayami, you are under arrest for kidnapping. Anything you say can and will be used-"

"wait!" he struggled to make the cuffs more comfortable but it just seemed to get worst. "kidnapping? Kidnapping _who_?"

"Minako Ogino," he stated clearly.

"_how the fuck can I kidnap my own daughter?!_" Taro yelled at them.

"you do not have any legal custody over her, therefore it's classified as kidnap."

The police man that stormed in with the dog soon walked out holding a bag in his hands. The officer Taro was arguing with asked what he had found. "illegal drugs."

-------------------------------------------------

Oh no! Minako doesn't love Hotaka! Hotaka is taking her to a mysterious place! Taro has been arrested and accused of possessing _illegal drugs_! ARGH! What is this fic coming to?!

Hehe, only I know that!!

Sorry, I'm not going to update this story until I upload at least one chapter to each of my other fics...

Please review!


	26. it's not a pigeon!

Hotaka said nothing as the taxi drove on ahead. He just stared out of the window in deep thought. "Hotaka, are you okay?" Minako asked in concern. He was silent but just shook his head as a reply – not to say 'no', just that he didn't really want to say anything. Minako felt guilt well up inside of her, believing it was her fault he was acting like this. "Hotaka, please say something," she requested, her voice full of worry.

He sighed. "You know…" he began. "I was actually really sure you'd like me. You're not like other girls that just come queuing up to me as soon as they see I've got money."

Minako tried to hide her offended expression but she couldn't let him get away with that! "So you thought I'd do the same? That I'd be easily bought?"

Hotaka smiled but didn't face her. "Of course I didn't. I thought I'd win you over with charm." He finally looked over at her to her that she was thoroughly irritated. "… obviously hasn't worked then, has it?" he laughed nervously.

Minako reluctantly smiled and had to admit, he was quite cute when he suddenly lost his confidence. "Hotaka, _please_ tell me where we're going!" she whined.

"No. what do you think of kids?" he said, partly to distract her from the topic.

She grunted and glared at him. "Don't change the subject!"

"I already said _no_! Now, what do you think of kids?" he glared back at her with same intensity.

Minako folded her arms defiantly and turned towards the window. "I'm not going to answer until you tell me." She allowed a smile to creep up onto her lips. In the window's reflection, she could see that Hotaka was just an annoyed as she was a few seconds ago.

For the moment, he wasn't about to give up. He grinned in a cocky way – the side of himself he'd show in school. "Okay, fine. I'll tell you, but you have to answer the question first, okay?" he offered.

"No way! How do I know you're really gonna tell me?!"

"Would I lie to yo–? On second thought, don't answer that. You're just gonna have to trust me!" his smirk made him look like he was lying. Minako gave him the shiftiest look he had ever seen which made him gulp with nerve.

She sighed. "Fine. I don't like kids and kids don't like me, happy? Now, where are we going?"

"Why don't you like kids?"

"Stop doing that!" she screamed, tempted to hit him hard across the face.

He kept an innocent look in his eyes. "I promise I'll answer if you just answer that last question!"

She sighed, knowing he wouldn't give up. "They're loud, annoying, disobedient, stubborn and obnoxious. Now, tell me where we're going!"

"You seem to have a lot in common…" he said, receiving a rather painful smack on the back of his head. "Ow! Alright, alright! _Jesus_, that hurt! We're going back to my place. Is that okay with you?"

Minako gave him a quizzical look. "What for?"

"No more. I've said too much as it is – so now you either bring up another topic, like kids, or don't say anything at all." Hotaka folded his arms and waited for her to answer with a grin on his face.

"Okay, then, why did you ask me about kids?"

"Because of the surprise and I love you." He suddenly looked away, his grin disappearing, leaving him looking really depressed.

-star- -star- -star-

Taro was being dragged outside by his wrists. He got shoved into the lift where he slammed into the wall. His protests where silenced with threats about being jailed longer for resistance. "I'm not responsible for anything!" he shouted.

"You're responsible for taking your daughter away!" the cop yelled back.

"I didn't take her away, she followed me here and I couldn't turn her away!"

"Well you should have returned her to her mother!"

Taro scowled at him. It was kind of true, though. He could've just returned her back to Chihiro but a part of him wanted Minako with him – that part blocked out all common sense and knew he would get into trouble but didn't care. _She's my daughter too. I deserve to be with her after being separated and not knowing her existence for more than a decade!_ He bowed his head. "I don't want to lose my only child…" he whispered to himself. "… I can't live knowing she's not happy. I need her…" the cop pushed Taro hard against the wall.

"How do we know you haven't drugged _her_ too?!"

Taro stared in sheer disgust. "First of all, they are _not_ drugs! It's my medicine! Second, I would never harm Minako!"

He sneered. "Do you realise how many times we hear that? Out of all of those people, you are the one we wouldn't trust the most!"

Taro held back from growling or his fangs would be visible – this was more then enough trouble and he didn't need to be taken to a science lab to be experimented on.

-star- -star- -star-

Hotaka pulled Minako out by her wrist, over-enthusiastically. Minako stumbled after him, getting dragged to the front door, faster that her usual pace. Then finally reached the front door and Hotaka had to stop to find his keys, deep in his pockets. Luckily, that gave Minako time to catch her breath again. "Aha!" he said triumphantly, holding up the key and unlocking the door before Minako had a chance to complain about his speed.

The hallway was now 'tidy'. Not that all the mess had gone, it was now more of an organised mess with all the junk pushed to the edges of the space around or pushed under tables – yeah, Hotaka really sucked at cleaning. "Come on!" he pulled her up the stairs. "And, yes, I suck at cleaning but I'm a pig; it's only natural that I'd live in a pig sty – you're so slow, hurry up!" he urged.

"I'm not slow, you're just fast, and what the hell are you doing?" she asked as they reached the top of the stairs. They turned a few corners until they got to a room at the end of the hallway. "Where are we?"

Hotaka smiled. "This is my bedroom."

… _Bedroom…?_ Her heart seemed to stop as she mentally repeated the single word. "Y…You mean bedroom as in… with a _bed_?" she asked, stupidly.

He looked at her for a while. "Um… isn't that usually the main feature of a bedroom…? Are you feeling okay? You look pale."

Minako squeaked instead of spoke and decided to just nod since the rest of her was paralysed. Hotaka opened the door and she felt her knees give way as the first thing she saw was the bed – king-sized, too!

"Minako? Are you sure you're okay?" he said, worriedly, picking her up.

Minako flinched as his hands touched the bare skin of her arms. Getting to her feet, she kept to herself as much as she could. _Holy shit!_ Her mind screamed at her. _Why the hell didn't I just run away?! First, he wants me to commit to him. Second, he takes me back to his place – to his _bedroom_! Which also has a _bed_! And… 'Do you like kids?'… Oh… HELL NO!_ Even though there was no argument, she still couldn't get herself to run.

"Minako, come over here!" he waved his hand in the same direction as the bed.

Her heart was pounding. _Stay away! Leave me alone! Get lost!_ Her voice seemed to have run away, not allowing her to protest, just _run_!

To her surprise, Hotaka made his way passed the bed and to the curtains that hung down to the floor. He swept them open to reveal two glass doors that lead to a balcony. On the balcony was a big dome shaped object, a huge white sheet hung over it. "Would you hurry up?"

Minako snapped out of her worries and hurried over. She watched as he raised a small part of the sheet and reached both hands in, but did it so Minako couldn't see. He pulled something out and held it with both hands, holding it out to Minako. "Here, take it."

"No way! It's a pigeon!"

"It's not a pigeon!" he said, annoyed. "It's a dove!"

"It's still a bird, keep it away from me!" she ordered, backing to the ledge.

"Minako, just give me your hand."

"No!"

Hotaka sighed. He used his chest to keep the dove from flying off and got one of his hands free, outstretching it to Minako. "Just give me your hand and trust me!"

She hesitated but slowly put her hand in his. Hotaka gradually pulled her closer. Minako looked at the bird and tried not to grimace. Hotaka brought her hand towards the dove and noticed that she had stiffened. "Give me your other hand," he requested as he rest the one he already had onto the dove.

She was now holding it at arms length. "What the hell am I supposed to do with this?!"

"Turn around and hold it out just over the edge," Hotaka instructed, taking her by the shoulders, trying to guide her movement.

"Hotaka, take it away from me, it's starting to squirm!"

"Then maybe you need to hold it properly!"

"How the hell do you expect to know how to hold a damn _pigeon_?!"

"_Dove_!" Hotaka corrected her again.

Minako suddenly felt Hotaka's chest against her back. His arms appeared in front of her, holding her hands in place. "Loosen your grip," he told her. She did as she was told, and found that her cheeks were burning because of their contact. "I want you to watch as we let it go. After three; one…" Minako's heart hammered inside of her.

"Two…" Hotaka pulling their hands down gently like he was preparing a spring.

"Three…!" throwing their hands up, they loosened their hands, allowing the dove to explode up into the air. Minako flinched back into Hotaka's chest. "Watch," he said. She looked up. It was fluttering in the dark night sky, its feathers contrasting with the dark blue and shining with the light of the moon and stars – like a butterfly under a streetlamp.

"It's beautiful!" Minako smiled, looking up at Hotaka, who was staring down at her.

"It's almost as beautiful as you."

Her cheeks burnt bright red, forcing her to turn away. "… w – What's with the pigeon?"

"_Dove_!" now he was getting really annoyed. "Don't you know what they symbolize?"

She shook her head. Hotaka sighed. "They symbolize peace… and love."

"Hotaka, I already told you-!"

"I know, I know!" he said, frustration in his voice. "You don't have to keep saying it…" he leant onto the ledge and frowned in a cold way.

Minako felt her stomach churn. She moved closer to him, hugging his arm and leaning her head on his shoulder. Hotaka was tense with stress. She hugged tighter. "Are you mad at me?"

"no." he said it in a harsh voice – which made Minako feel even worse. "… yes, I am," he changed his mind.

She unhooked her arms and stood parallel of him. "I'm sorry. Would you still be mad if I said I really do love you?"

"You don't have to lie to make me feel better!" he yelled, facing her. "If it's not true, don't say it. Besides, that's not what I'm annoyed about."

He ran a hand through her hair and turned her head towards him. She still looked upset. "Then what've I said or done this time?"

Hotaka grinned. "… It's a dove."

She threw her arms around his waist, feeling a shower of relief dawn over her. He returned the embrace, ruffling her long hair. Minako suddenly laughed into his chest. "What's so funny?" he asked.

Minako flushed, still laughing, just thinking about it. "I thought you brought me here for… a different reason…" she said, glancing into the room to the bed.

Hotaka looked over, too. He inwardly chuckled, shaking his head. "You actually thought I brought you here for sex?"

She bit her lip – she seemed to be blushing a lot tonight.

"I'm not _that_ perverted," he glimpsed up at the sky where the dove had once been. Then his eyes cast a mischievous look as he looked back down to Minako. "But, purely out of interest, would you let me?"

A stabbing sensation slammed down on his foot. He yelped in pain, regretting giving Minako back her heels. "That means 'no', right?"

"It means 'touch me and die'." She smirked evilly at him. "But all of this still doesn't explain why you asked me if I like kids."

"Oh, yeah, that." He went back into his room. Minako followed him as they left and got to the stairs. "My mom called last night; I'm gonna be a big brother!"

"That's great. But, um… what does that have to do with me?"

"Because… well, could you be like a big sister? When I'm older, I'm planning on moving out. I don't want to spend anymore money that I don't earn myself so I'm gonna look for a part-time job and save up as soon as I can. Maybe one day, if I do get my own place, I'll look after my little brother or sister – my mom's gonna be too busy working and I doubt Haruki has any interest in children," he explained. They reached the cab and Hotaka had just finished going on about his plans for the future. "So… do you think you'd want to move in with me?"

"Move in?" she said as they got into the taxi and were driven down the many streets. "I don't know… it'd be a lot less hassle for my parents if I weren't around. But then _you'd _be stuck with me!"

He raised an eyebrow and smiled devilishly at her. "I can live with that…" they weren't sitting so far away from each other anymore. Now they were side-by-side. Hotaka sat and played with Minako's hair for most of the journey. She didn't mind much – just stared out of the window. "Minako…?" Hotaka said.

"Hmm…?" she slowly turned to face him.

"Please don't push me away," he said, then pulled her lips to his but did it gently as if to say 'I'm not going to force you'.

Minako was going to shove him off but then thought to herself for a moment. If all he wants is a small kiss, it wasn't going to kill her. She locked her arms around his neck and allowed him to kiss her, returning it to be fair since he'd done so much for her already.

"Lovebirds!" the driver called.

They both stopped – much to Hotaka's disappointment. "What?" he replied.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" the driver asked, beckoning to the other side of the street and pulled over.

Minako glanced over. A police car? She could see three figures; one was handling something in a small clear plastic bag, holding a dog by the collar; the other was standing in front of the third figure which she could only see the head of. Dark hair and quite tall. It could only be one person. "Dad?!" Minako flung the car door open and ran over as fast as she possibly could in heels without tripping over.

"Minako, wait!" Hotaka jumped out after her.

"Dad!!" she called. Minako was about to throw herself into a hug but was grabbed by the arm by the same guy who was handling the dog. "Let go!" she struggled. "That hurts!"

"Get your hands off of her!" Taro demanded, going to fight him off but was stopped by the other cop shoving him back.

"You have no legal right to even touch her after all of this!"

"You can just shut the fuck up!" Taro yelled at him. "And you!" he turned to the one holding Minako by the arm. "I said get your hands off of my daughter!"

"Minako!" Hotaka called, finally catching up with them. As soon as he got within arms length of Minako, (A/N: let's call them cop one and cop two) cop two pushed him down to the ground.

"This has nothing to do with you, kid!"

"Hey!" Taro shouted, his anger really flaring up now. "If this has nothing to do with him then _you_ have no right to treat him that way!" he couldn't believe he was defending Hotaka of all people – still didn't mean he liked him, though.

Cop one reached for his baton and whacked Taro onto the back, causing him to fall to the floor in agony.

"Dad!" Minako screamed, stomping on cop two's foot with all her might, forcing him off. She tried to bend down to her father but cop one grabbed her back away. "Get off!"

"Not until you cooperate! Get into the car!" he ordered.

Hotaka shot up from the ground. "You can't force her to go!" he protested.

"Stay out of this!"

Minako looked helplessly at her father, still struggling to get free. "Dad, do something!" she begged.

"No…" he whispered. Everyone stared at him, surprised. "Minako, just do as they say. It'll all be over quicker that way…"

"_No_!" she shrieked, kicking cop one between the legs. As soon as he retracted away, Minako snatched Hotaka's hand, pulling him back to the taxi and pushing him in quickly. "Drive!" she screamed at the driver. The wheels screeched onto the road and they quickly drove away. Luckily, the police were in too much pain to record the license plate number.

Hotaka's right arm was hooked round Minako who was leaning on him. She wasn't crying, just looked incredibly depressed. "Hotaka," she said, tonelessly. "Is it okay if I stayed over at your house for a while?"

He tightened his grip to comfort her. "It's more than okay." He kissed her on the head before adding. "I love you."

She'd heard him say it so many times now but only now has it actually meant something to her. Only now she wanted to hear him say it over and over again. Over and over… her eyelids gradually dropped.

Hotaka smiled. She looked vulnerable, so innocent, and so… cute. They arrived back at Hotaka's house again. Hotaka carried out of the cab and somehow managed to get the front door open with her still in his arms. He carried Minako into the main room and lay her down onto the couch. He didn't intend to leave her there, he just needed to find something for her to wear – that dress was probably not the best thing to sleep in. He made his way upstairs.

About three minutes later, Minako shot up to find herself in a strange new room. Her heart pounded; it was dark and no one was around. She was terrified. She heard footsteps which scared her even more. The lights flicked on and she found Hotaka standing by the door with something in his hands. "Um, it seems my mom took all of her clothes with her, so there are only these for you to wear." He held out the clothes and came closer to her. "They're mine so they may be a little too big for you."

Minako looked at them for a moment before taking them.

"The bathroom's upstairs, third door on your left if you want to get changed there."

She hugged the clothes tightly. "Could you take me there?" she mumbled. "Could you wait for me outside the door?" she requested.

"Um… okay?" he answered.

Hotaka sat outside the bathroom door, every so often having to reassure Minako that he was still there. Finally, he heard the lock click and got up. Minako came out wearing his old navy blue pyjama pants which had to be adjusted by half its size to fit her waist but the trouser legs still covered her feet. The plain white shirt was left with the first button undone, the end of it hung down to at least halfway down her thighs, and the sleeves hung over her hands by at least fifteen centimetres.

Hotaka couldn't help but smirk. _She looks so damn cute!_

"I'm sorry, Hotaka," she said. "I'm being such a burden to you."

"No, not at all!" he took her gently by the hand and let her back to his room. She sat down on the bed while Hotaka got himself something from his wardrobe to wear. He walked back over to Minako. "You can sleep on my bed; I'll sleep on the couch."

"Hotaka, I can't-!"

"It's alright, I don't mind sleeping on the couch," he smiled and turned to walk away when he felt a tug on his arms. He looked back to see Minako's eyes had welled up dramatically.

"That's not what I meant," she said, her voice quivering. "Please… don't leave me. I don't want to be alone anymore, I'm scared!" Minako pushed herself into his chest and cried. Hotaka quickly embraced her, trying to comfort her in whatever way he could. He sat down on the bed, leaning on the banister with Minako cradled in his arms.

"I love you, Minako…"

--------------------------------------------------

Okay, I'm officially depressed. I need a guy like that!

I drew a picture of Minako and Hotaka! Look on my profile and see the picture. Any comments can be put in a review coz I haven't been getting my PMs lately.

Please review!!


	27. human confiscation

Taro had a trial the next day since the court had decided that this case was serious. Chihiro was still searching for Minako since she didn't know where Hotaka lived. The police had interrogated Taro, in case he might know; he did, but that wasn't for them to know.

Minako woke up the next morning but didn't want to open her eyes. They hurt from crying and she didn't even remember what happened. She snuggled up to keep warm when she realized that she was pushing herself into a strong chest. She gasped, shooting her eyes open to see Hotaka beside her with a blanket to cover them. She'd been using his arm as her pillow all night? Then she noticed he was bare-chested. She pushed herself up abruptly, not knowing what to think. The shirt he had given her had a few more of the buttons undone. Her breathing had become heavy with shock and she screamed. She screamed to her lungs' extent.

Bed-head Hotaka moaned and buried his head into the pillow until he couldn't take anymore of the screaming and got up – only just realising it was Minako. She kept screaming, holding her head in her hands like she was trying to pull her hair out. "Minako!" Hotaka said, pulling her close to him. Minako continued to scream. Then it just occurred to him _why_ she was screaming. "Minako! Calm down! Nothing happened!" that made her stop screaming but her breathing pattern were still irregular.

"Wh… what happened?!" she said, still afraid.

Hotaka smiled, tightening his grip. "nothing. You fell asleep and I just tucked you in. Just coz I'm not wearing my shirt and lying next to you, doesn't mean anything like that happened."

"then how did this shirt get so many buttons undone?" she said looking down at herself.

"it was warm and I thought you…" Hotaka stopped his reply. His breathing became suddenly heavy. Minako glanced up to see his face. He looked confused with himself. He shook his head, "no… I can't…" Hotaka whispered.

"Hotaka… are you-?" all of a sudden, she couldn't help but gasp as his grip became chokingly tight. She could tell he was trying hard to hold back his cries of pain but it proved difficult. But she couldn't just allow him to squeeze her body like this even if he didn't mean it. "Hotaka… I…" she struggled. "I… can't… breath…!"

His eyes shot open in realization as he flung his arms off of her. Minako jumped away, off the bed but stumbled to the floor as she tried to breath normally again. The agony in Hotaka's chest finally stopped. He glanced to where Minako was. His eyes were still wide with fear of _himself_. He climbed out of the bed and held out a hand for Minako. "I'm sorry," he said.

Minako took the offer and was snatched up before she could even find her balance and fell onto his chest. Hotaka, not even giving her a chance to stand up straight, turned them back around and quickly lay Minako on the bed. Minako stared at him in confusion. He leant his head closer to hers and looked as though he was about to kiss her again. "Hotaka, what are you doing?" she asked.

He stopped in mid-air once again before pulling back and shaking his head one more time as if he was telling himself not to. "you need to get some rest," he told her, smiling. Minako had only just realized that he was only wearing his shorts. She gulped thinking she had slept next to him dressed like _that_.

Then, there was a thunder of a knock at the door. Hotaka sighed. "I'll get it."

"aren't you at least going to put some pants on?" she asked.

Hotaka looked at himself before replying casually. "no."

He got to the front door as Minako watched from the top of the stairs. The loud knocking continued. "alright! Alright!" he unlocked the door, only to have it flung open, knocking him off his feet. Minako froze seeing the police at the door, unable to hide herself. It was the two they had encountered the night before. Cop one grimaced at Hotaka, spotting Minako upstairs. "do you know how old she is?!" he yelled.

Hotaka pulled a face of disgust, looking up to where Minako had frozen then back to the cop. "what are you implying, you sick bastard?"

Cop two barged in, storming straight upstairs towards Minako. She gasped. It wasn't until he was about halfway that common sense had returned to her and her legs stumbled away, still needing to gather speed. She could hear Hotaka calling her but all sense of what was going on had been lost. And where was she to go? She only knew three rooms in the entire house and one of them was downstairs. Her legs were already tired, enough though she hadn't been running very long. But Minako pushed herself.

She was running so hard, running into every corner she could find. She was concentrating so hard on breathing and speed that all sounds muffled and she didn't realize her knees were ready to give up. Her arms had gone numb. She kept her focus straight ahead, not daring to look back. She shut her eyes tightly, enduring the pain. Her lungs felt like they had closed up, causing her to cough violently.

Minako collapse, struggling to breath, coughing like she was being choked.

Darkness.

-star- -star- -star-

"we didn't do anything!" Hotaka insisted, trying to free his wrist.

Cop one gripped tighter, almost crushing the boy's hand, making him grit his teeth to hold in the screams of pain (A/N: abusive, aint it?). "try keeping up that argument once the pregnancy test comes out positive!" he yelled.

Hotaka couldn't take the agony anymore and shouted. "fuck, get _off_!" he bit the policeman in the arm, instantly getting him to release. "for the last time, we didn't do anything!"

"you little bastard!" he spat, holding the hand that had just been bitten. "you'd be lucky if I don't report you for resistance and assault!"

"my ass! The way you treat others is just-!"

"she passes out!" called cop two, carrying Minako in his arms at the top of the stairs.

Hotaka gasped seeing her flopped over like that. She looked like she had just died! "Minako!" he tried to run to her but was pulled back. "let me go!"

The cop frowned at him. "don't you think this is all because of last night? There's no telling what you did to her!"

Hotaka grimaced back at him as cop two came down. "you can't pin any of this on me! If anyone is to blame, it's you guys. Minako and her dad wouldn't have to keep running if you'd just left them alone!"

"and what about you?" he answered. "you helped her run away. If she'd come with us from the start, she'd probably still be conscious. If you were never in the picture, Minako would have been home the whole time, maybe even could've stopped the argument. They could've stayed a family."

Hotaka's face softened as the words rang in his ears. _What if he's right…?_ He thought, doubting himself. He felt physically sick thinking it was all his fault. Cop one, threw Hotaka's hand out of his grip and walked out behind his colleague with a smug expression on his face.

-star- -star- -star-

(Taro's interrogation)

Taro was taken into a relatively small room, all white with only a table and chair. He sat there with his head on the table, groaning and occasionally lightly banging his head too.

The two police stood outside of the room, discussing 'tactics'. They were dressed casually – apparently to calm him down and make him feel more comfortable. They both agreed on the 'good cop, bad cop' routine. They entered the room, cop one with a stern look and cop two looking completely the opposite. Taro glanced up but soon continued to pity himself.

"are you even going to greet us?" cop one asked.

Taro repeated his actions, but looked at them for longer this time. "fuck off," he said, resuming.

Bad cop slammed a hand in front of him. "what did you do to her?!"

He didn't say anything. "you drugged her, didn't you?! Why else would she want to stay with you? Coz you gave her those illegal drugs!"

"hey, lay off a little," cop two said, laying a hand on his shoulder. "after all, Minako is his daughter."

Taro finally raised his head and regarded cop two, smiling. It was working… "fuck off." Or maybe not. He dropped his head back down.

"_what's wrong with this guy_?" cop two whispered to cop one.

Taro sighed. "nothing's wrong with me, I just you both to fuck off. I know what you're trying to do and it's not going to work so you can stop wasting your time," he said simply.

Cop two scowled at him, dropping the routine. He was being too damn stubborn for them. Cop one's frown soon straightened into a twisted smile. "you haven't heard about your daughter yet, have you?" he asked, provokingly.

Taro raised an eyebrow at him before flopping his head back down and mumbling into the table. "nothing you say will make me talk because there's nothing to talk about.

"so, no one's told you about her fainting?" he looked at his partner with the same evil grin on his face, noticing that this had gotten Taro's attention. "or that she was found with a boy, who was also in his underwear?"

"no," he growled, firmly. "Minako would never do anything like that. S-she's only _thirteen_!" then it hit him that she'd fainted. _Fainted_? Why? No, Minako's not that stupid. Besides, the effects of that sort of stuff doesn't take place after the first night… but what if she was hiding it from him? He shook his head. He trusted Minako.

The two policemen smiled in satisfaction. Now all they had to do was let it all sink in – they'd be ready to interrogate further later on.

Taro shut his eyes as they left. He mumbled under his breath before suddenly opening his eyes again. Al he could see was black. Well, it wasn't what _he_ could see; what Minako could see. So… did she really faint?


	28. memories

Minako lay on the hospital bed, still unconscious. The doctors had said that she passed out from both emotional stress and lack of oxygen – she'd overused her lungs from crying, running or just not breathing properly. Chihiro gripped her daughter's hand tightly, waiting for her to open her eyes again. She'd been there all day by her side ever since she was told of what had happened. "Minako, please, wake up," she begged, squeezing her hand tighter.

Chihiro had to go to the trial as a witness but she wouldn't leave without Minako. She looked too weak to be left alone and she'd been away from her for so long now. Both of them had gotten thinner. Minako's face looked like she'd been drained of all of her life, and allowing her to stay in the baggy clothes she was wearing made her look even skinnier.

She shifted her head to the right, groaning. Chihiro's eyes lit up with hope. "Minako?" she said. Minako's eyes fluttered lazily open to see her mother beaming down at her.

"m… mom?" she said. She quickly shot up and searched the room, dazed. "w-where's dad?" she asked.

Chihiro smiled, despite the fact that she wasn't concerned about how she was. "he's with the police right now."

Minako looked down to see that her mother was still holding her hand. She snatched it away coldly. "where's Hotaka?"

Chihiro's cheerful face suddenly melted away with hurt. "I – I don't know."

"I want Hotaka," she demanded.

"Minako, we can't just-"

"I want Hotaka! I want him with me!" she screamed. "I want him _now_!"

-star- -star- -star-

Hotaka sat at the bottom of the stairs with his head in his hands. It'd probably been several hours since Minako was taken away and he had nothing else on his mind. He was blaming everything on himself, somehow rooting everything back to him. If he hadn't been at the river, Minako would never had known him and never had gotten into trouble coming to see him. If he hadn't have spoken to her, she wouldn't have almost drowned to death. If he hadn't have insisted on being with her at school, Yumi and her friends wouldn't be bullying her so much.

He'd been so lost in his own thoughts that he hadn't even gotten dressed yet, even though it was freezing that morning.

-star- -star- -star-

Taro was placed in a cell for the time being. The trial would start soon. All he could do was think about Minako and Chihiro. Was Minako alright? Where is she now?

No matter how many mind-filling thoughts he had of his daughter, they were always equally matched with Chihiro. Everything circled back to her.

Then that night came back to him:

"how could you just let her go?!" he yelled at her.

Chihiro huffed in frustration, dragging a wet cloth across the table back and forth. "Taro, for the last time, she's not a child. If she wants to visit her friends, she can." She said coolly.

"not when her friend happens to be boy!" Taro folded his arms tightly in defiance, sinking deeper into the sofa. "have you even read your own human dictionary? Friendship is defined as 'the _relationship_ between friends' then it says 'a friendly disposition felt or _shown_.' Don't you find that suspicious?"

She sighed as she threw the cloth into the sink, glad the cleaning was done for the day. "I find it suspicious that you actually know that. Define 'trust' for me," she said.

"easy! 'a firm belief in the reliability or truth or strength etc. of a person or thing'!" he said victoriously.

"so why can't you trust Minako?"

"I trust Minako with my life; it's the boy that I don't trust!" he retorted. "what is it with you humans? Don't you have any sense of protection?"

"Taro, shut up. Every parent wants to protect their child, you just need to know your limits or they'll feel imprisoned." She sat next to him, slightly annoyed.

He rolled his eyes. "it's better to have her feel imprisoned than let her go around completely vulnerable to the world."

"you're getting so obsessed with her protection that you're completely blind to her happiness. It even makes you sound like you don't care."

Taro glanced over at her, his expression darkening. "don't you dare say I don't care about her, Chihiro. You and Minako are the mot important people in the world to me, you know that. She's our only child and… you're my love." He leant closer to her, sliding a hand to the side of her face to try and pull her closer.

Chihiro sharply struck him across the face. Taro sighed deeply, shaking his head in annoyance. "what now?" he whined.

She stood up firmly, her hands clenched at her sides. "I don't want to hear that anymore, Haku! You treat Minako like a dog, expecting her to just get dragged along with a leash you've tried to put on her ever since you came! I've had to live with her for thirteen years and I know that she doesn't like being told what to do!"

He scowled, rising from the seat. "why do you keep calling me 'Haku' all of a sudden?!" he growled. "my name is Taro! And the only reason Minako is like this now is because _you_ can't handle her!"

"you have no right to speak that way about us! Minako is my daughter-!"

"_our_ daughter!" he yelled, getting very frustrated since it wasn't the first time she'd said that.

"you weren't the one who was disowned by your parents, you weren't the one to find yourself cold, hungry, homeless, jobless and pregnant! You weren't the one to wake up every night to feed a newborn baby and you certainly weren't the one who got the blame whenever Minako did something wrong, Haku!"

Taro made fists and dug his nails into the palms of his hands, trying to conceal his anger. "stop calling me that! I would have been there every step of the way to help if you had only given me the chance!"

"I knew you'd never want to live in the human world! I only wanted Minako to have a normal life, but that's all ruined thanks to you!" she screamed.

"you can't blame any of this on me, you're the one that left even though you knew you were carrying a child!"

"I wouldn't have been carrying a child if you hadn't have kidnapped me!"

"would you rather be miserable living with your parents?!" he asked.

Chihiro couldn't understand why he wasn't getting all of this – it all made perfect sense that none of this would have happened if he hadn't have interfered. "it would be better than the life I'm living now, Haku!"

"I told you to stop calling me that!" Taro shouted.

"why should I?" she replied, coldly. "it's just a name. It doesn't change who you are."

"well it does in my case. Haku and Taro are two different people, and I am Taro, not Haku."

"really?" she said, sarcastically. "well, I wonder if Haku would be a better father than Taro?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "shut up, Chihiro," he said, his voice deadly.

"that's what it seemed like to me all those years ago," she continued.

"I said, shut up!" his temper was beginning to rise now.

Chihiro grimaced. "I'm sure Minako would like him better – and he'd probably care more about her too-!"

"_shut up_!" he yelled and, without thinking, his hand flew up into the air and came down at her with full force, knocking Chihiro onto the couch in complete shock. He gasped. "Ch-Chihiro…! I – I'm sorry!"

"get out," she demanded.

"… w-what?"

"_get out_!" she screamed. "I don't want to see you ever again!"

Taro stood there, stunned. He was mentally denying everything he had just heard. "but Chihiro… I… I love you!"

"well I don't love you! I fell in love with Haku, not Taro!"

He felt his chest being torn open for his heart to fall out. But with those last few words, he said nothing and left…


	29. shut up

Thunder-like knocks almost burst the door open. "Open the door!" a voice demanded.

Hotaka didn't answer. He was too lost in his own thoughts. The banging continued, along with the non-stop shouting. He buried his head deeper into his hands, thinking of nothing but Minako. The door was kicked down violently. The policeman from earlier stood at the doorframe. "Is your name Hotaka Yano?" he asked, in a very harsh way.

"Maybe. Depends what you want him for," he replied, dryly.

Cop one scowled. He really didn't want to answer him but knew he had to. "A certain girl asked for him."

His head instantly lifted. "Minako?" he said, his voice bursting with hope. "Is she alright?"

"Maybe. Depends if you're Hotaka or not," he said, looking at him with his head high as if he were trying to get him. "She's in the main hospital. Go to reception and give them your name, they'll give you her room number." He turned on his heel and began to walk back to his car.

"Wait!" Hotaka called.

"What?" cop one spat.

"Did you really have to break the door down?" he asked.

"Just get some decent clothes on and get there!" he shouted n response.

-star- -star- -star-

Minako had been screaming for Hotaka so much that she had worked her lungs too hard and found it hard to breath, causing her to faint again. Chihiro sat on the floor outside of the room after her daughter demanded that she'd go away. She hugged her knees close to her chest, not speaking to anyone that suggested she sat on one of the nearby chairs.

The trial was due to start in just over an hour and she didn't feel like going.

-star- -star- -star-

Hotaka arrived at the hospital and entered the reception. He was given directions to Minako's room but still found himself lost. He asked dozens of nurses where to go but they only gave him more directions and never showed him the way. He sighed. Every time someone gave him directions, it seemed to lead him in the opposite direction to where he was first told to go. It was all one big labyrinth.

Finally he got to a floor where he spotted the two cops standing together in a really long corridor. He decided to approach them and ask if they knew where the room was. As he came closer, the two gave him incredibly snooty looks. "Well, look who's decided to where pants," said cop one, seeing his wearing his grey jeans, burnt-red scarf tucked into his black coat. His glove-protected hands were buried in his pockets, itching to come out and strike his in the face.

"Just tell me where Minako's room is!" Hotaka demanded, already losing his patience.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" he asked, making his colleague laugh at the bad joke.

He clenched his fists and grimaced with anger. "Of course you know me, idiot! I'm Hotaka!"

"Funny, I couldn't find you before."

"Oh, forget it, I'll find it myself!" he said, storming away. He was mentally regretting it as he walked off but still looked dignified even though he was like a lost puppy.

He turned a corner and saw Chihiro sitting on the floor. He got closer and leant down beside her. "You're Minako's mom, right?" he asked.

Chihiro said nothing but nodded.

Hotaka gave her a sympathetic look, sitting in front of her. "You've gotten really thin. Is it because of Minako?"

She turned her head away. She was seriously depressed. She didn't really want to tell him about how she didn't feel like eating ever since Minako left. Tears began to form in her eyes, thinking of how worthless she felt when she was alone. "She's in that room if you want to see her," she indicated to the room behind her just to try and get him away before she burst out in tears.

"If you feel you have to cry, just cry. It's not healthy to keep it bottled up. Minako _does_ love you and I know it," he assured before standing and going into the room.

Peering in, he could see that Minako was asleep again. Hotaka crept in, holding the door so it wouldn't slam loudly. He carefully began to shut it until the fabric on his gloves made him lose his grip and slide out of his hands, closing with a moderately loud bang. Minako gasped, her eyes shooting open as she jerked upwards. Hotaka cursed at his gloves and at the door. "Hotaka…?"

He glanced at her and smiled warmly. Minako's face lit up as she threw the bed covers aside and swung her legs over, about to run towards him. As soon as her feet touched the floor, her legs felt like jelly, causing her to stumble forwards.

"Careful!" Hotaka said, quickly dashing to her before she hit the floor. She landed in his arms, her head resting on his chest. "Are you okay?" he asked.

She looked up at him, seeing a worried look on his face. Minako didn't reply but tried to push herself up. From her hips down felt paralysed. "… I – I can't move…" she whispered.

He immediately swiped his arms behind her knees and picked her back up and onto the bed again. He stroked her hair lovingly but his face had no emotion at all. Minako was waiting for him to kiss her again but he didn't. He just kept caressing her locks, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Is something wrong, Hotaka?" she asked.

He shook his head, but said nothing.

Minako looked up at him, raising her head up to his and connected their lips. She knew that would make him happy. But, to her surprise, he pulled away, not facing her. Hotaka went around the bed to the chair, slumped himself in it and stared out of the window which was in the opposite direction to Minako. "Hotaka," she continued. "What's wrong?"

He didn't reply.

"I said, what's wrong?"

"Shut up," he said, his voice harsh and cold.

Minako's heart sank. Didn't he like her anymore…?

---------------------------------------------------

That was mean, I know.


	30. the snow

"I'm sorry, Hotaka," Minako whispered.

Hotaka looked back at her with absolutely no idea what she was talking about. "Excuse me?"

She looked as though she was on the verge of tears. "I'm sorry if I said anything to upset you. I don't want you to be angry at me."

Hotaka quickly stood and locked her in his arms, holding her head close to his chest. Minako could hear his heart beat – it was beating quicker than it should be. "Don't be stupid," he told her. "I could never be angry at you even if I tried and you could never upset me. I love you so much."

Minako held a tight grip on him, trying her best to hold back her tears. "Thank you, Hotaka," she said, her voice slightly muffled. "I've probably lost both my parents already; I don't want to lose my best friend, too."

He sighed. "You haven't lost both of them. You'll still have your mom."

"Why should I care about my mom? It's all her fault anyway."

He grimaced, the loving touch of his hug disappearing. He was annoyed now, but didn't want to say anything that might upset her again. One careless mistaken was too many. "Minako, I don't think you know this coz you were still sleeping, but your mom was taken to the intensive care unit. She hasn't been eating for days and the doctors don't think her body can withstand living." He felt Minako stiffen. He pulled away to look at her. After seeing that she was in denial, he continued. "I went to see her. She said that before she dies, she wants you to know how much she loves you."

Droplets suddenly fell uncontrollably down her face. Her hands began to shake incredibly fast. Hotaka quickly pulled her back into his embrace. Minako screamed, trying to push him away. "No! No, she can't be dying! You're a _liar_!"

Hotaka kept his grip so she couldn't move. "You're right, I'm lying," he said, simply.

She stopped and looked blank with a hint of shock on her face. "You bastard…." She mumbled, and then her voice rose. "_You fucking bastard! How the fuck could you lie about something like that!? Do you realize how damn scared I was?!_" she tried to push him away again but he wouldn't let her budge. "Let go!" she demanded.

"So you admit you were scared?"

"For the love of God, Hotaka! What do you think?! How would you react to being told your mother was going to die?!"

"So you _do_ care," he smiled to himself. "No matter how much you deny it, Minako, you love your mother and you're scared of losing her, right?"

Minako was silent for a moment before replying. "I hate the fact that I don't hate you for this, Hotaka." A chain of guilt wrapped around his heart and pulled hard but he ignored it, knowing she was grateful… in a way…

Hotaka felt her bury her head into his chest, her soft hair tickling him. Minako suddenly pushed herself away and used a hand to cover her mouth. "Are you okay?" Hotaka asked, beginning to worry.

She shook her head. "I feel sick…" she muttered, then pointed to the bathroom to the left of her room.

Hotaka quickly helped her up, carrying her to the toilet where I'd prefer not to write about what happened in the next two minutes. So – Minako washed her mouth out thoroughly to try and get rid of the awful taste. Hotaka assisted her in getting back to the bed. She moaned, holding her stomach tightly. Hotaka looked at her with sorrow – she looked like she was in agony. She also lost a whole lot of weight and the baggy clothes weren't helping her appearance. "Minako, do you want me to go find a doctor for yo-?"

"No!" she said, quickly. She'd always hated doctors and doctors had always hated her.

He raised an eyebrow before standing up to leave the room. Minako asked him where he was going but he didn't reply. "There has to be a doctor somewhere close by," he whispered, poking his head out of the door. Chihiro was gone and nowhere to be found anywhere down the hallway. It made him regret what he had said to Minako.

"Hotaka, I don't _need_ a doctor! I'm fine!"

"You won't be saying that when you go into labour," Hotaka said, acting as if he knew everything.

"Labour?! I'm not pregnant! We didn't do anything – you said so yourself!" she screamed at him.

"I did say that," he responded. "But I might have lied." He ran out of the room before Minako could scream at him more.

Minako's heart dropped. It can't be. It's got to be some sort of coincidence. _No one _gets pregnant that quick… right?

Hotaka returned with a tall doctor walking behind him (emphasizing Hotaka's shortness). He sat down beside her on the edge of the bed whilst the doctor stood in front of then both. "What's the problem?" he asked.

Hotaka gently nudged Minako, who didn't look like she was willing to say anything. She finally grunted. "I vomited _once_!" she glared at her friend accusingly.

The doctor watched her carefully, frowning. "And how old are you?"

Minako knew exactly what he meant and pulled a face of disgust. "Thirteen and _not_ pregnant!"

"How about you?" he turned to Hotaka, who gradually became aware of this.

"Um… I don't think I'm pregnant either…" he said, wishing he had paid more attention when Minako exploded into laughter. "What?"

The doctor's face screwed up with anger. "I'm done wasting my time."

"Uh, wait!" Hotaka called, trying to get Minako to stop laughing. "Minako needs to go to a trial later but she can't walk."

He sighed, still angry. "I'll sort something out," he grunted, leaving the room. Hotaka noticed that the laughter had suddenly stopped and turned to Minako, who returned to glaring at him.

"What?"

She slapped him across the face. "You bastard! How could you lie to me?! You told me we didn't do anything! Why didn't you just tell me the truth?!"

He held his cheek muttering a few things about he didn't deserve to be treated like this. He then looked up to a corner as if he was thinking for a moment. "Hey…" he said. "What name would you give the baby if it's a boy?" He received another slap – harder than the last one – on the other cheek. "It's just a question!"

"I thought you would've known not to do that to me. You're my best friend, not boyfriend. How many times do I have to tell you; I don't love you."

Hotaka folded his arms, getting really pissed off and turned away. "It's not like I'd want a child if you won't carry it. You can just stay a single parent and end up giving your child a life they don't deserve – get an abortion for all I care."

"Hotaka, what is wrong with you?!" she screamed. "I would never get an abortion, that's just cruel! If I am pregnant, I _will_ have the baby… I just don't understand how you could do that to me. I trusted you." Even though he had turned away, Minako could see him fight the corner of his lip that was protesting to rise. "What are you laughing about?"

Hotaka looked at her, no longer trying to disguise his grin. "Do you seriously think I'd get you pregnant then just leave? I love how I can make you feel anything, it's quite funny."

Minako stared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I can make you happy, angry, sad, scared, anything I want if I say the right thing. You believed me when I said we slept together, right?" his smirk slowly faded into more of a thoughtful smile. "There's just one thing I can't do – I can't make you love me, no matter how hard I try. What will it take? What would you like in a guy? Just name it and I'll change to be that guy, if you want."

"You want to know what I'd like in a guy?" she said in a harsh voice. "How about one that's honest. One that won't lie to me like you did. I don't know if I can trust you anymore, Hotaka, and that scares me; I don't like that fact that you just play with my emotions like that. How do I know you're not lying when you say you love me?"

Hotaka slammed his lips against Minako's, almost causing her to lose his balance. He pulled their bodies together closely; making sure it wasn't one of those easy-to-forget moments. He finally released her and whispered close to her ear: "Does that seem like a lie to you?"

There was a knock at the door. "Come in," Hotaka called, but nothing happened. Another knock followed and he stood up, sighing. Peering through a small gap he made, he saw no one. He stepped out to find Chihiro standing meekly against the wall, clutching a few clothes in her arms. "Oh… um, are those for Minako?" he asked.

She nodded, holding them out to him without even looking. She was too busy gazing at the ground. Hotaka offered for her to come in but she just shook her head. "Tell Minako that the officers should take her to the courtroom, please. I'll already be there." She walked away straight after she said it. Hotaka sighed again, feeling nothing but sympathy for her. He re-entered the room, Minako still slightly shocked about the sudden kiss. He held out he clothes for her. "Your mom told me to give these to you."

Minako frowned as soon as he mentioned her mother. Hotaka's lips tightened as he noticed her instant change in attitude. "Hey," he said, smiling at her. "How about, when all of this is over, we go out together? Not on a date, just… just go out? For fun?"

She shook her head. "I'm not gonna let you spend anymore money on something like that."

"Alright…" he thought for a moment. "Since it's winter, how about we go play in the snow, just me and you?" he asked, sitting in the chair.

"No," Minako replied, throwing the bed sheet over her head so that her whole body was covered. "I hate snow."

Hotaka blushed, realizing what she was trying to do and turned towards the window again so he couldn't see her. He let Minako know that before continuing: "how could you hate it? What about Christmas?"

Her voice came back slightly muffled. "I've never celebrated Christmas. To me, it's just an excuse for all the shops to open later for all the money and for kids to get what they want no matter how expensive it is."

He was tempted to turn around and stare at him in amazement but decided not to in case she got the wrong idea. "True, but… haven't you ever gotten a Christmas present? Have you even gone out to play in the snow _once_?"

"No, I haven't and I don't intend to."

"Well… as soon as you can walk again, I'm taking you out in the snow, and you're gonna have fun – I promise."

-star- -star- -star-

The two were taken to the courtroom. There weren't many people there so there were plenty on places or them to sit. Minako was given a wheelchair and wheeled around by Hotaka. He them two seats near the back where it was almost empty. Chihiro was seated near the front with her head down. It looked like she hadn't smiled for a long time. Taro wasn't even there yet. The judge had arrived so did the jury – but no Taro.

Then the door creaked open and a certain dark haired man entered.

"What time do you call this?" the judge asked.

Taro looked up at him like he'd just asked a stupid question. "I call it two o'clock – why? What do you call it?"

A few people tried and failed to hide a laugh. All except Minako and Chihiro who both knew he was making too many enemies. The judge was grimacing at him as he walked to his seat and rest his head on the table like he was about to fall asleep. The judge cleared his throat. "Do you think you could pay attention?"

"I could," Taro replied. "But I really don't want to." Reluctantly, he lifted his head but slumped into his seat. The lawyer sitting beside him sighed, knowing this would be a tough job.

The judge coughed again. "Now, before we begin, Mr. Nigihayami, I'd like to ask you why we couldn't find any record of you anywhere."

"Uh…" he began, but nothing came out except: "I'm… I'm an immigrant?" he offered.

"Then why is it you could not provide us with a passport or even a visa? We found no birth certificate."

Taro sunk his head into his shoulders as he the judge gathered his papers just to neaten them and set them down again. "We'll deal with this matter later."

He used his right hand to hold his head and groaned. This wasn't going to be easy…

----------------------

Uh-oh…

Minako: what? No! I have to see what happens to my dad!

Me: shut up, you'll just have to wait just like everybody else!

Minako: hey! This is _my_ dad we're talking about! I have a right to know!

Hotaka: well, she's right, Dr34mer, this _is_ her dad-

Me: hey, Hotaka – I was thinking of making Minako fall so madly in love with you that she'd want to be your sex slave – what do you think!

Hotaka: yeah, Minako! Wait like everybody else!!

Minako: you bastard! (Kicks him in a sensitive spot)

Lolz… please review!


	31. the trial

Minako: finally! I get to see what happens to my dad!

Me: shut up, Minako – you know I always find a way to leave you all hanging! MUWAHAHA!

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"Your honour, I'd like to call my client as a witness - Chihiro Ogino," said Chihiro's lawyer, looking far too confident that he would win.

Chihiro stood and made her way to the seat slightly lower than the judge's but before she could enter, an policeman held out the bible in one of his hands, the other held to about the same height and his head and made Chihiro do the same. "Do you swear to tell all the truth, the full truth and nothing but the truth?" he asked her (A/N: yeah, I'm not quite sure that's what they say exactly but work with me, I don't really know how any of this works!).

"I do," she replied before sitting down.

"Miss Ogino," continued the lawyer. "Could you tell us what the relationship between Mr. Nigihayami and your daughter was like?"

For a moment, all Chihiro could do was look from Taro to Minako but finally spoke. "a-at first they… weren't very fond of each other. They gradually began to get closer and closer… that's all, really."

"Do you have any idea why this was happening?"

When she shook her head, the lawyer hummed to himself and glared at Taro. "We have found evidence that Mr. Nigihayami has had illegal drugs in is possession. Do you think this has anything to do with their sudden change in attitude towards each other?"

"N-no! Of course not!" Chihiro said quickly. "Taro didn't have any sort of drugs with him and they were only ever alone _once_!"

The lawyer raised an eyebrow at Taro. Taro knew exactly what he was thinking and stood up abruptly. "We were having ice-cream! No drugs involved!"

"So you don't deny that you have had drugs?"

"I've never touched drugs in my life!" Taro's lawyer was tugging him back down but he just swatted his hand away. "What you found was my medicine!"

"Then would you care to explain why the tests we've carried out don't match any sort of medication anywhere in Japan?"

"Because…!" he started but found that he had no argument to defend himself. _They came from the Spirit World and it's only drugs to humans like you!_ No, that definitely wouldn't work.

More untrue statements about 'drugs' were made before he finally let Chihiro go sit back down in her previous seat. She was beginning to regret what she'd done and said. Her lawyer continued. "Your honour, I'd like to call up to the confession stand Minako Ogino."

Minako gasped. She wanted no part in this and yet she had to. Hotaka looked at her, ready to help her up but she was frozen. He gave her a gentle nudge in an attempt to wake her up and it worked. "Don't carry me," she whispered. Hotaka sighed but nodded, hooking her right arm over his neck and holding her waist for support as she limped weakly to the seat her mother had sat in. Taro's heart sank seeing Minako unable to walk without help. How did that happen? The policeman with the bible stood in front of her before she had a chance to sit down. "Do you swear to tell all the truth, the full truth and nothing but the truth?"

Minako glared at him and jerked her head away defiantly. Hotaka rolled his eyes, grabbed both her hands, held one up and slammed the other onto the book. "She does," he said firmly, not wanting to waste time.

The man with the book, being to lazy to make it official, shrugged and walked away.

Minako stared at Hotaka in a deadly way but he ignored it and stood to the side.

"Miss Ogino," the lawyer repeated. "What was it about your father that you disliked when you first met him?"

She folded her arms and gave him an evil look. He frowned at her. "May I remind you that you are under oath, miss Ogino."

"You said I have to tell the truth but I didn't hear anyone say anything about not speaking at all." She said, victoriously.

The lawyer didn't like her. It didn't look like he liked anyone at all unless they paid him to. "Miss Ogino," the judge said calmly but firmly. "Any answers you do not provide us with may determine whether or not your father is proven innocent or guilty."

For a moment, Minako just sat stiffly in the chair but couldn't argue. "… Fine," she finally said.

The lawyer smiled in satisfaction. "Now, answer my question."

"I…" she began then closed her mouth, refusing to answer. But it was for her father and he was in a lot of trouble because of her. Still, she didn't want everyone to know the truth. She quickly glanced at Taro in hope he would tell her what to do but he looked just as lost as she did. Minako sighed. "I… I was-"

"Minako, don't answer!" Taro shouted, standing up. He knew Minako didn't want to just let out her feelings like that. "You don't have to say anything!"

"Order!" the judge said, slamming the hammer onto the over-sized table.

Taro grunted, his hands twitching into tight fists. They were just trying to make fools of them both. "It's my fault!" he yelled. "I left Chihiro when I found out she was pregnant! Then I returned when she'd grown up so I didn't have to look after her as a child… that's why Minako hated me…"

_That's a lie…_ Chihiro and Minako thought. _He would never do that_. To Taro, it was okay to lie in that situation since no one told him he had to tell the truth.

"If that is true," the lawyer continued. "Then when and why did you become so fond of your father all of a sudden?" he asked Minako.

She was stuck now. The truth would contrast with what Taro had just said and get him into even more trouble. She sat contracted within herself, feeling she was about to cry. Minako had absolutely no idea what to do now, and everyone was waiting for her.

"Because I could buy her things she wanted!" Taro interrupted again. "I bought her things for a school dance."

_Another lie… Hotaka bought those things_.

Hotaka knew Minako was resisting the urge to look back at him since it would give away too much. He didn't mind Taro taking credit for what he had bought; the only thing that bugged him was knowing that he wasn't going to let Minako go anyway.

"Is this true?" he asked Minako.

She took a deep breath and nodded. Minako was dismissed. Hotaka stood up to help her back to her seat. They sat down without saying a word to each other. Hotaka occasionally glanced over at Minako to see if he could find any clues in her eyes of what she was feeling. Her expression was still the same, totally obvious she wanted to cry. "Minako," he whispered as the trial continued. "You can cry if you want. Don't bottle it up like that."

Minako looked up at him like she was denying her tears before finally dug her head into his chest and silently wept. Taro could sense her sorrow, making his lips tighten as he struggled to contain the urge to hold her in his arms again. Hotaka wrapped a protective arm around her shoulder, trying to tell her it was okay without saying anything. She locked him in her grasp, practically clawing her nails into his clothes. In fact, she was. "Minako, calm down!" he whispered, feeling sharpness trying to fight its way into his skin.

Minako held her breath and releases him, looking down at her trembling hands. Her claws had grown without her realizing and her teeth had sharpened. A look of horror washed over her face as she looked up at Hotaka for reassurance but he was just as surprised as she was. "Minako, your eyes… your pupils are longer and pointed." He hugged her and didn't give her a chance to push him away. "Just close your eyes and listen to my voice," he told her. "I love you, Minako." His kissed her on the forehead and freed one of his hands, bringing it up to his collar. He pulled out the chain around his neck and held the cross charm tightly. _Please… help her… _he prayed – even though he was never really that religious in the first place but if this worked, it would change his entire perspective on life.

She felt Hotaka's voice instantly sooth her. Her claws and fangs shrunk back to their original state. She closed her eyes and relaxed, listening to the rest of the trial. Her mother's lawyer had been blabbering on whilst she and Hotaka were panicking so all she heard from him was 'I rest my case'. Taro's lawyer stood up and made his way to the front of the court. Taro could tell he was nervous from the sound of his muscles shivering even if it didn't show. "Your honour," he began, trying to act brave even though he knew he had no chance of winning this case. "In my client's defence, Minako _is_ still his daughter. Mr. Nigihayami has made a mistake but every human does." Taro's head shrank into his shoulders slightly at that last statement. Perhaps he should've used _everyone_ instead of every _human_. He continued, receiving a few nods and positive mumbles from the jury. "In the famous words Jesus himself; 'let he who has not sinned cast the first stone'. I'd like to call up my first witness, your honour – Taro Nigihayami."

Taro groaned and dragged himself to the dreaded chair. He made his vows and sat down. "Mr. Nigihayami, do you love your daughter?"

"What kind of stupid question is that? Of course I love her!" he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"And why didn't you turn her away when she came to live with you?"

Taro as about to shout his answer again but stopped and shut his mouth, unclenching his fist. He exhaled deeply. "Because… she didn't want to go back and… and I only want her to be happy. _I _wanted to be happy… so I didn't turn her away."

Hotaka felt Minako tense up again. He could tell she was frightened. He squeezed her hand to try and comfort her. "Mr. Nigihayami, how do you feel towards the mother of your child, Chihiro Ogino?" his lawyer asked, sounding pretty pleased with his progress so far.

Taro looked at Chihiro and wouldn't take his eyes off of her. She couldn't help but blush and turn away. He didn't stop staring as he spoke. "I love her more than life itself." Chihiro's eyes stung, ready to burst into tears.

Minako couldn't understand why he still had feelings for her after she'd put him through all of this. _He's an idiot – mom doesn't like him and she's already gotten him into so much trouble. How could he possibly love that?_ She asked herself.

The judge looked at Taro once more before he was dismissed. Something about him made the judge think twice before sentencing him. As Taro sat down, his lawyer looked at him and smiled. "I rest my case."

"That's it?!" Chihiro's lawyer said, a little loudly. "We're so gonna win this! I haven't lost a case yet!" the jury was gathering and whispering. Minako was nervous since she was able to hear everything they were saying. She clutched Hotaka by the jacket. Hotaka gripped the charm in his hand tighter. _Please, don't let her down!_

The judge asked the jury if they were finished, and they were. "All in favour of clearing the defendant of all charges raise your hand." Minako sat up immediately to see the verdict. The judge had held his hand up, along with less than ten others. He sighed. "All in favour of sentencing Mr. Nigihayami to nine years in prison… please raise your hand."

_No!_ Minako thought. _This can't be happening!_ Everyone else, which was well over thirty people, raised their hands. The judge slammed his hammer and everything else he said was muffled to Minako except for the word 'guilty!' tears which had not been there instantly fell from her eyes. "No… dad, you can't go!" she tried to get up but only stumbled forward, missing the chair in front of her thanks to Hotaka who grabbed her just in time.

Taro stood up firmly. "_No_!" he yelled. People were already packing up and about to leave. "_No_!_ You can't do this – Minako is my daughter_!" police were now surrounding him, grabbing him forcefully. He struggled as much as he could but too many of them were ganging up on him. He figured he only had two options: the first was to give up and allow them to take him away, which he had no intention of paying any attention to and the second he was already preparing for… before they could drag him away, Taro transformed, his huge body knocking everyone beside him down. A few people screamed and gasped, others still tried to hold him back but as soon as they came anywhere near him, he snapped his jaws and growled as a warning, making them stagger back. As soon as he saw that no one would get in his way, he flew straight for the door and knew he couldn't open it by the handle so hammered he at it, trying to break it down.

No matter how hard Hotaka tried to keep her up, Minako still thrust herself forward again. "Dad!" she screamed. "Don't leave me!"

Taro stopped hitting the door for a moment and looked back at her, lying on the floor in tears. He hesitated before growling only to her, _I won't_. He gave the door one last hit before it finally burst open and he was able to fly out.

Chihiro couldn't believe Taro would just do that. Now he can never return without anyone recognizing him. She quickly got up to run to Minako, who wouldn't even let Hotaka pick her up. "Minako, are you alright?" she asked, laying a hand on her arm.

Minako snatched her arm back and glared at her mother in deadly anger. "If it weren't for you, none of this would've happened," she said, coldly.

Hotaka quickly picked her up before she had a chance to struggle out of his grasp. "That's enough, Minako!" he ordered, sounding like a parent himself.

"Minako," Chihiro said, even though she knew her daughter wouldn't listen to her anyway. "I'm not leaving you. I won't let you go again." Hotaka pushed the wheelchair out of the broken door while everyone else in the courtroom was still in a panic. The three of them left the building but Hotaka didn't know where to go – should he go home and take Minako with him or take the two to her mother's apartment? He felt Chihiro's hands try to take control of the wheelchair. He looked at Chihiro but she wouldn't look at him. "Thank you for all you've done, Hotaka," she said to him. "I'll take Minako home now."

"NO!" Minako yelled. "I don't want to go with you! I want to go with Hotaka! I want to go find dad!"

Hotaka ignored Minako and turned to Chihiro. "Can I speak with Minako, please?" he asked.

"I don't want to leave Minako again-"

"Don't worry, I have no intention of taking her away from you," he smiled warmly, which was all he needed to gain he trust. But it was true; he liked Chihiro and didn't think she deserved to be put through this. She sighed and walked away so she wouldn't hear anything. That when he knelt down in front of Minako, holding a firm expression. "Minako, you've got to stop living a fantasy and start looking at the real world – there's no way you can have a perfect life so why not just appreciate what you already have?"

She scowled. "Why are you defending her? Why do you think I should just give up on my dad?"

"I don't, but you have to be realistic! How easy do you think it's going to be finding your father? He could be anywhere!" he told her, refraining from raising his voice. "You don't realise what you're putting your mother through, she's only ever wanted the best for you and that goes for me, too. I didn't want to say this but… just… just give up."

Minako couldn't believe it was Hotaka saying this to her. That was it – if he was going to be like that then he wasn't worth having as a friend. "If you really want what's best for me, you can fuck off. I don't want to speak to you again, Hotaka." Her face was completely blank. The only sign of emotion he could find in her eyes was rage ad he wasn't going to stay if she was angry at him, but he couldn't ignore the tearing feeling in his chest.

He stood up, hiding the sorrow in his face. "Fine. I'll go. But I still love you and always will, no matter how much you hate me – I promise you that… you're my will to live, Minako…" Before he left, Hotaka leant down to kiss Minako one last time but she turned her head away, making him miss her lips and kiss her on the cheek. The tearing now felt like chains snaking around his heart, squeezing tighter and tighter. He stood and left her, walking up to Chihiro. "You can take her home now."

Chihiro could tell instantly that he had done something to make him look like that. His voice was so full of sadness even though he tried to cover it up with another smile. She wheeled Minako home, but they didn't speak along the journey. She'd bought instant noodles for Minako since she hadn't cooked in days but she wouldn't touch it. She didn't even speak and Chihiro was afraid she would turn mute soon. She didn't show any sign of emotion either and her eyes had glazed over so she couldn't tell if she was actually feeling anything. It was Christmas soon and Chihiro didn't want her daughter to gone on being unhappy. "Minako," she said that night, knocking on her bedroom door. "I'm coming in, okay?" Minako did reply so she just entered.

Minako was leaning against her bed with her knees to her chest, staring into space. "Minako, I'm sorry that I've put you through all of this. I don't want you to be so depressed. I'd do anything to see you smile again. Please… tell me what I can do to make you happy again." She knelt down beside her daughter.

Minako said nothing but felt her eyes sting with the need to cry. She only allowed a single tear to escape, though. "Please, Minako – I don't want you to hate me."

She looked as Chihiro from the corner of her eye, watching to see if it was another lie. She couldn't stop herself from throwing her hands around her mother and crying. "I don't hate you, mom!" she had been thinking about what Hotaka had said and realised he was right: she'd already lost her father and her best friend. Without her mother, she'd have nothing.

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The End. Yes, I've finished the story – joke, I'm not quite that cruel.

Minako: you bitch! How could you do that?! How could you let my dad get away?! How could you make me mad at Hotaka?!

Me: it's all for the reviews, Minako. All for the reviews.

Minako: I'd bet you'd sell your own family for a stinking review!

Me: I would never do anything like... (sells reader her sister for a review)… never mind.


	32. what's best

Christmas was about a week away and Minako still hadn't raised a smile. Taro had occasionally came to visit through Minako's bedroom window – keeping his promise – but even then the corners of her lips didn't even twitch. Chihiro knew that something had happened between her and Hotaka since she hadn't been to visit him at all. She'd eaten a little more but not nearly enough to amount to what she should be eating. Chihiro had tried talking to her but her replies always came back as vague as anyone could possibly put it. That was all about to change; Chihiro had been planning on a surprise and told her that she had to work extra shifts while Minako just moped around the apartment. "Minako," Chihiro called. "I've got something to show you, come here!" Minako dragged herself out of her bedroom and slumped onto the old couch.

She was silent the entire time. Chihiro moved closer and pulled her into her arms. "Minako, you know I only want what's best for you, right?" she asked.

She nodded but was slightly confused by what she'd said.

"Well, I've decided to get married. Someone proposed to me last night." She held up her hand with the gold engagement ring on her finger in pride.

"_What_?" Minako said, pushing away from her mother in disbelief. This couldn't be the mother that would never go anywhere near men, could it? "How could you do that, mom? What about dad? You have to have at least some sort of feelings for him!" she stood up with a look of anger on her face.

Chihiro tried to get her to calm down. "Minako, I said it's what's best for us – what's best for _you_!"

"What's best for me is _dad_! Can't you understand that!?" she screamed – how could having another guy around possibly be what's best for them?

"Minako, listen to me-!"

"No! I won't listen! I don't want to!" she stormed off into her room, slamming the door behind her. Chihiro sighed, lying down in the sofa with a hand on her forehead. She'd always hated trying to reason with her daughter because she could never get a reason for the argument in anything she said. Minako was far too stubborn. In the end, she shrugged, knowing it would all fall together soon enough.

Minako sat on her bed and thought she was about to cry but nothing came out. No tears would form. How could this happen? How could her mother fall in love with anyone but Taro? Minako heard a knock at her window and quickly turned to see the dragon floating there, waiting for her to open the window. She swung her legs over the bed and hurried to unlock it. He flew in, and transformed back into Taro and pulled her into his arms. "Hey – everything alright?" he asked with a smile.

She shook her head. "Mom's getting married. She says it's for the best but I only want you, dad. Can't you do anything to stop her?"

He sat on her bed, cradling Minako in his arms like she was still a child. He had almost thought he would never be able to hold her anymore. "I don't want to stop her, Minako. If it's for the best then I won't do anything."

Minako looked at him as if he'd gone mad. "Dad, how could you say that? I thought you loved mom! I thought you'd want to get her back!"

He smiled and held his daughter tightly. "Of course I do." He kissed her on the forehead. "Did she tell you his name?"

"I wouldn't listen to her. I don't want someone else – and why the hell are you smiling?!"

Taro stroked her hair. "You're way too judgmental, Minako. I'm not holding any grudges, am I? What if you like him?"

She looked at him suspiciously. "Why? What do you know about this guy?"

He took his time in answering, falling back onto the bed. Minako stood up and waited for him to speak. Was he hiding how depressed he was feeling? Was he even remotely upset? Taro sighed before sitting up again, his face deadly serious. "Minako," he began as he stood up straight. "_I _proposed to your mother last night." That certain smiled crept onto his lips again – the one that told her everything would be alright from now on. She hated herself for believing it, too.

"B… but, I thought… I thought mom hated you."

The smile faded and it made her wish she'd just shut up. "She probably still does. I came to see her last night and… we'd agreed that this had nothing to do with our feelings for each other."

"Then why would you-?" Taro pulled her into his arms tightly, forcing her to stop talking.

"Just shut up, Minako. We can be a family now." He kissed her once more on the head, refusing to let her continue. He'd already said too much as it was. "And you know what? I want that friend of yours, Hotaka, to be the best man since he's the only other guy I know." He said in a desperate attempt to change the subject.

Minako looked up at him, puzzled. "But I thought you hated Hotaka."

He shrugged. "You like him – that's more than good enough for me." He ruffled Minako's hair but she gave no sign of interest. In fact, she didn't even look like she was breathing. "Minako? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I don't want Hotaka at the wedding. I don't want him anywhere near us. You were right – he's nothing but trouble."

Taro knew something had happened now. He could see in her eyes that she was angry about something but wished he knew what it was. "Minako, whatever's happened, you can't stay mad at him. He's your best friend, right? I'm sure he only wants what's best for you. _You_ were right – I'm just looking for an excuse to hate him."

It was hard to admit but he was the one to make her appreciate her mother and realize she was the only one she had then. It had just occurred to her; was he purposely trying to make her mad at him? Was that all part of a scheme to give her time with her mother? But why would he do so much just for that? Minako shoved her father away and ran out of her room, eyes burning. "Minako!" he called after her.

Minako pushed passed Chihiro, almost knocking her off of her feet. "Minako, where are you going?"

She stopped and turned back to her, standing in the doorframe. "I have to see my best friend," she stated, her voice quivering. She slammed the door behind her. Chihiro gasped as she heard another door creak behind her and turned around quickly to see taro standing there, smiling proudly.

-star- -star- -star-

She hesitated before she got to the front yard. She watched the house worriedly, having second thoughts about this: what if he didn't forgive her? What if he's angry? No, he wouldn't say he still loved her if he was angry. Minako swallowed her nerves and ran up to the door and knocked. "Hotaka? It's me – Minako."

There was no reply. She sighed. "Hotaka, I came to say I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say those things to you – please open the door. I know you might not forgive me but please, just give me one more chance."

Silence.

Minako didn't think he would open the door and turned to leave. No – she couldn't give up. She turned back and looked at the door carefully, growing a claw on her forefinger and beginning to pick at the lock. She heard a click and pushed slowly. Minako peered in. "Hotaka?" she called, looking around the hallway and her heart dropped. She screamed to her lungs content, falling to her knees. she'd never been so scared in all her life. "_Hotaka_!" she shrieked.

Hotaka was laying unconscious, facedown on the floor in front of the stairs. The very last words he had said to Minako came ringing back.

_You're my will to live, Minako…_

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MUWAHAHA! Okay, okay, I know what you're thinking – _you bitch! How could you?!_

I have really got to stop writing - I'm an artist, not a writer! My art is now suffering!! So, yeah, sorry if I don't update for longer than usual (but for the reviews... maybe...)

I didn't think it was possible to bribe anyone with reviews until now...

Well… please review, it's very encouraging…


	33. The problem

The Latin in this chapter is very bad…

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All Minako could do was cry ever since she and Hotaka had arrived at the hospital. The doctors had connected various wires and computers to him. Hotaka's heart rate was at rapid speed and wouldn't slow down for a second. His temperature had shot up and could kill him if it rose any higher. _I'm sorry, Hotaka… I'm so sorry_, she kept thinking. She reached up to his neck where the chain was as if she were using the last of her energy. She held the charm tightly in her hand and whispered: "please… don't take him away from me… if you're really there, save him… please…" she had no idea what to do next. What could she do now-?

"Minako?" she jerked upwards almost immediately. But it was Hotaka. It was Taro, standing outside the window. He opened it wider to let himself in. "I saw what happened. Poor guy."

"Dad, what's wrong with him?" she tried to say clearly through her tears.

Taro looked at him and walked closer. "Minako, open one of his eyes and tell me what you see."

She was about to protest and ask why didn't he do it himself but realized it would look gay. So she leant forwards and lifted one of his eyelids. She watched closely to see if she could find anything unusual. She didn't notice anything at first but kept searching. Minako came close, just hoping no-one would jump out and shout _boo!_ Coz that was the last thing she needed right now. Then she found it. Well, at least she thought she did since it was only for brief moment. There it was again! She backed away, slightly confused. "Dad, I'm not quite sure what I'm supposed to be looking for."

"Just tell me what you saw or I won't be able to help."

She sighed. "It's gonna sound weird; I saw a few flashes of gold in his eyes instead of green," she admitted.

Taro's emotions dropped. "I knew it…" he muttered. "Your mother should be here in a few minutes. Whatever you do, _don_'_t _let anyone else but her in until I come back."

"Come back from where? Where are you going?" she asked.

He pulled in a chair next to the bed, close enough for him to lay a hand on Hotaka's head. "I've got something to take care of, Minako. Don't ask questions about it." With that, he shut his eyes ad breathed in deeply. "_Intravit_…" he whispered. Suddenly, all the life in his eyes disappeared as he dropped down like he was dead. His hand, however, remained in its place.

"Dad? _Dad_?!" she screamed. How the hell could this be happening? He couldn't have-

The door clicked open. Chihiro came in and gasped at the sight of both Taro and Hotaka looking lifeless. "M-mom! Dad's done something that made him pass out and he said he had something to take care of – _what the fuck has he done_?!"

"Minako, don't swear," she said, as if she had only imagined what she just seen. "They're fine. You're father had suspicions about this for a long time. I didn't think he was right."

"Is everyone speaking in code or something? What was he right about!?" Minako asked, losing her patience completely.

Chihiro glanced at Taro one more time before sighing. "Do you remember what your father told you about an evil spirit called Katsu?" she asked. Minako nodded. "Well, he thinks Hotaka may be possessed by him. I'm not quite sure about this, but I think Katsu transferred himself to him from you, Minako."

Minako's heart dropped. _This is my fault_… she convinced herself. But how could Katsu transfer himself… oh, that's right; their first kiss. Straight after they had shared that moment together, Hotaka cried out in pain, claiming he was fine. Minako regretted that, too. A first kiss should be a wonderful thing but she had hated it and it had almost killed her best friend. She figured that that must be why he was hearing voices. It must have been Katsu talking to him. Her tears had returned and now spilling. She hugged her mother for comfort but knew the only one she wanted to hug right now was Hotaka. Chihiro smiled at her daughter. "What did they say about his condition?" she asked.

It pained her to say this. "He… they said Hotaka had a heart attack…" the words felt like daggers to her own heart. _Heart attack_…

-star- -star- -star-

Taro appeared in the big black space with random images floating around. He looked left and right but saw no-one around. He browsed through the paths, grimacing at Hotaka's dreams – all containing Minako. He made a mental note to himself to mention this to her. That's when he heard a laugh that made his blood boil. Katsu wasn't far. He knew it was him even though he had Hotaka's voice; he still had that smug tone. He followed the voice and finally reached them. He found one Hotaka backing away on the floor in complete fear, the second Hotaka walking closer and closer, taunting him. "KATSU!" Taro yelled, fists clenched so tight that his knuckles had turned pale.

Katsu quickly turned around and smirked. "Long time no see," he said, a slight cackle in his voice. It was strange to see Katsu saying this in Hotaka's form.

Hotaka looked up at Taro and sank deeper into confusion. There was a double of him, all his memories, thoughts and dreams were floating around him and now Minako's father appeared. _I'm going mad… _he concluded. Taro marched straight past Katsu and stood firmly beside Hotaka. "Get up," he ordered.

Hotaka scrambled to his feet, still backing away from his copy. "Leave this boy alone, Katsu. You want me, not him."

"True," he frowned. "But I couldn't get to you. His weak human body couldn't withstand my power. I couldn't take over his body and I couldn't take over my daughter's body since she's a female."

"_Your daughter_?!" Taro spat, his face coiling in anger. "Minako is not your daughter!"

"Oh yes she is," he laughed. "It wasn't you that helped conceive her; it was me. That makes Minako my daughter."

Hotaka could see Taro bare his teeth and hear him growl in fury. His fists were so tight that his nails almost cut through his skin. "You dirty bastard! You used Minako to get to Hotaka! I'm gonna get rid of you once and for all!"

At those words, Katsu's face looked just like Taro's – filled with rage and nothing else. "I know you wouldn't do that. You're bent on revenge. But you can't get it without hurting the person I possess, can you?" the smile was playing up his lips again.

But this time, Taro grinned as well. "I'm not as stupid as I used to be, Katsu. I know now that the best thing to do to you is to get rid of you altogether." He shut his eyes, an evil look on his face.

Katsu's eyes instantly flared open. "_Stop_!" he shouted, darting at Taro and causing Hotaka to fall back down again with the shock. But all that happened was Taro sort of turned to mist as he shot though him.

"_Tu est moriturus, Katsu. Hoc tuus finis_!" he finished and couldn't help but let out a small laugh. Katsu was screaming and cursing at him as he disintegrated into nothingness. He sighed with relief and turned to Hotaka, who was still on the floor in fear. "It's okay. He's gone for good. Are you alright?"

Hotaka felt stiff but managed to shake his head. "What… what was that? Who was he? How did he get to me?" he had a million more questions but those seemed like the most important.

"I'll answer any questions once you're conscious again."

"Eh?"

"You passed out. This is in your subconscious mind. I'm going to leave now and you can leave, too. Are you coming?"

He shook his head again. "I think I need a few more minutes."

Taro nodded and was about to turn away when he ended with: "by the way – if you're going to have perverted dreams, have them about someone _other_ than Minako. Do I make myself clear?"

Hotaka attempted an innocent smile before Taro disappeared. He sighed, standing up and looking around. He could remember anything that had happened before this. He was browsing through his memories, the ones about Minako: how beautiful she looked in that dress, the fist time he'd seen her and… the next one wasn't Minako. He saw his father, dressed in s suit like usual. Hotaka frowned at the sight. He knew that day was his birthday. His father had handed him a small box, the one that contained his chain. Hotaka looked down at the cross around his neck and held it tightly. He shut his eyes; thinking of the next few days, when he had found out his father had died. What he really hated was knowing that he couldn't cry about it even if he wanted to.

Then all tat went through his mind was Minako. The last few things he had said to her. He told her to give up… then he lost her, just like that. What if he had lost her forever? What if he never saw her again? To his surprise, he felt his eyes well up. He wanted to see Minako. He _needed_ to see Minako…

-star- -star- -star-

Taro woke up, groaning and rubbing his head. All that had left him with a headache. "Dad!" he heard Minako scream. "Is Hotaka okay?! What happened?! _Why isn't he waking up_?!" she rolled out the questions one on top of the other.

He moaned. "He's fine," he yawned. "Should be back soon."

Minako was still panicking, though. Her eyes were bloodshot and tear tracks were completely obvious. All of a sudden, Hotaka shot up from the bed, gasping for air. He turned to his right to see Minako and quickly flung his arms around her as if she was going to escape. "Minako, don't leave me ever again!" he said, almost shouting. "I was terrified that I might lose you forever!" she noticed that Hotaka's breathing had changed. It felt like he was taking sharp hiccups of air in. That's when she realized it – Hotaka was crying into her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around him comfortingly. It felt good to hear his voice and have him hug her again. With her eyes, she indicated the door to her father.

He shrugged. He needed to talk to Chihiro anyway so gave her a head gesture to say that they should leave. As soon as they had gone, Minako pulled Hotaka away so she could see his face. He looked away like he was ashamed of having her see him like this and quickly began to wipe the few tears. She smiled and leant forward to kiss him. She felt Hotaka's hand stopped her. He looked so grim. "I don't deserve a kiss from you, Minako. Not after what I said."

She didn't want to get into another argument so said nothing about it – she would rant at him to liven things up a little and to change the depressing atmosphere. "You bastard! Why didn't you tell me?!" in fact, she was genuinely angry at him now.

"t-tell you what?"

"About your heart problems!"

He gave her a puzzled look. "… Heart problems…?" he echoed. "There's never been anything wrong with my heart!" he insisted.

"That's not what the doctors told me. You had a heart attack and I called an ambulance when I found you. It's confirmed that you have heart problems," she told him.

Hotaka didn't know what to say and just stared. How could he have heart problems? Maybe it's a fluke? Then again, maybe not. He had always thought heart problems were for old people. A nurse walked in to check the clipboard at the end of Hotaka's bed. Hotaka shook his head. "It doesn't matter," he said to Minako. "It'll snow soon. Whenever I get out of here, we'll go out and play in it, okay?"

"Snow?" the nurse interrupted. "No – you can't allow your body temperature to drop too much. There will be no playing the snow. If you do have to go out for whatever reason, you'll have to wrap up so you don't get too cold – understand?"

Hotaka's heart dropped as she explained – playing in the snow was one of his favourite things. No snow for him this year. Or next year. Or even the year after that. Never again. He nodded reluctantly and waited until she had left before calling her a bitch. He looked like he would never smile again, angry at the world. Minako watched him in sorrow and tried to raise a smile. "Hey…" she said. "I was thinking about what you said to me; you know, at the dance."

He didn't even face her as she spoke. "Your point?" he replied as if he found her boring.

Minako maintained her smile even though she was deeply hurt. "Well… I've decided that I _will_ marry you."

Hotaka jerked to one side so she was now facing his back. "Piss off, Minako."

Her smile faded immediately. "Excuse me?"

"I said piss off. You're only agreeing coz you feel sorry for me… not because you love me or even have any other feelings remotely _like_ love!" he told her, coldly. "It's just because of my heart, right?"

Minako was about to open her mouth to deny it before she realized he was right. She still didn't love him; she only wanted to take care of him because she felt it was all her fault that this had happened. And now she felt even worse knowing that he was mad at her. Why aren't relationships ever easy? "Hotaka, I thought that was what you wanted. I just can't seem to make you genuinely happy."

"Of course I'm happy, I've never been better. Especially since I found out that I can't go out in winter without looking like a marshmallow!" he said, sarcastically. He soon sighed, realizing he shouldn't take out his anger on Minako. "Sorry…" he mumbled. He felt Minako's lips gently come in contact with his cheek. She rested her head on his shoulder and smiled thoughtfully. "It's okay. You have a right to be angry," she told him. It made her think of her parents. Her mother was angry at Taro but all Minako could do was be angry at her, too. She'd never liked it when people were angry at her but didn't think it mattered whenever she got angry herself. Having Hotaka so close made it feel impossible to be depressed. She liked knowing that someone loved her.

Hotaka felt his muscles relax when Minako hugged him. There was no way he could possibly stay angry at her. He lifted his hand to cover hers and leant his head against her soft hair. "I love you, Minako," he whispered. Whenever he said that, there was always this little spark of hope in him that she may say those words to him. She never did.

Minako squeezed tighter. Something had just occurred to her. "Hotaka, my parents are going to get married." Hotaka nodded, thinking that was a good thing and not quite sure why she didn't sound like it was. "Well, my dad let something slip out about it not having anything to do with their feelings for each other. Why would they marry?"

Hotaka sat up straight, pushing Minako off of him and looking at her as if she was some sort of idiot. "Isn't it obvious? They're not doing this because they both share the same feelings for each other – they're doing it for you! Can't you see that? Being apart has brought you nothing but grief…"

-star- -star- -star-

Taro and Chihiro returned for Minako. But, being as stubborn as she was, Minako refused. She insisted that she would stay with Hotaka until he was allowed to leave. Hotaka glanced up at Taro before squeaking: "um… thanks for, uh… getting rid of that guy…" he smiled to show he was grateful.

Taro shrugged and smiled back at him. "It's fine."

His grin grew wider whereas Taro's washed off completely. "That doesn't change the fact that I don't like you."

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Don't worry, people – one more chapter to go! Poor Hotaka – heart problems! As if his heart wasn't suffering enough! I know, I'm evil so you can flame all you want XP

Hotaka: am I going to die?

Please review or I kill Hotaka.


	34. Christmas Eve

This was the day: Christmas Eve. Hotaka had asked Minako if she'd join him for the day when he was allowed to go back home. The doctors had given Chihiro the medication when she told them she was his mother because his real mother was still on holiday. Minako agreed to seeing him since no one else celebrated it and Hotaka would be all alone anyway. It took Taro a whole load of convincing before he allowed her to go. Minako was running through the streets in excitement. She couldn't wait to see him. She'd bought herself a milk-white polar neck jumper, blue jacket and new shoes – courtesy of her father's never empty wallet. The snow had begun to fall the night before and was now at least three inches thick. She arrived at the door and knocked. This time it opened immediately.

Hotaka was jumping about at the sight of her like a child that had just gotten a new toy. "Come on, it's snowing! Let's go!" he squealed, pushing past her and into the front yard.

She gave him an awkward look before entering the house since he hadn't locked the door. "Minako?" he said before she emerged carrying his hat, scarf and thick jacket that had been hanging behind the door. Hotaka was already wearing his gloves and a coat too thin to possibly keep the cold out. He sighed. "Isn't this enough?" he asked, indicating to his clothes.

Minako shook her head and walked out, shoving them into his arms. "You heard the nurse!"

He shrugged and dumped the stuff on the ground, running away. "Hotaka!" she called after him. She leant down to pick the things up when a frozen ball hit the side of her head. Minako stood up, really pissed off as Hotaka stood about fifty yards away, laughing. She picked up the stuff he had dropped and run towards him, slamming the hat on his head, nearly choking him with the scarf and only just managing to get him into the coat. "And don't run around too much – you shouldn't overwork you heart like that."

Hotaka grunted and threw them all off angrily. He walked away again and suddenly dropped to the floor. "Hotaka!" Minako screamed, rushing towards him until she realized that he had done that on purpose to make a snow angel. "What the hell are you doing?! You can't just roll around the snow with your heart condition!" she yelled.

"Shut up and help me make a snowman," he sighed again, rolling onto his knees and beginning to gather the snow in a little hill.

Minako shook her head and went back for the jacket and things. "Not until you put these on!" she ordered.

"Oh, come on!" he smiled. "Catching a little cold isn't gonna kill me!"

"But it'll make it harder to breathe, making your heart have to work twice as hard to keep you going and you know you're not allowed strain yourself!"

Hotaka rolled his eyes and suddenly was attacked by the same hat, scarf and jacket once more. He really did feel like a marshmallow and, Minako wouldn't tell him his, he looked like one too. "Minako, I don't want to wear these!" he began to raise his voice as he ripped the clothes she had forced him into off, throwing them straight back into her face.

"Hotaka, it's too cold!"

"_I don't fucking care_!" he yelled.

"Don't shout at me! You shouldn't be stressing yourself!"

"Why - because it's not good for my heart? If that's all you care about you may as well leave me alone!" with that, he left for the house again. _Why do guys always have to be so hard-headed?! _Minako thought to herself. But instead of anger, all she could feel was guilt. She'd just ruined what Hotaka had been looking forward to for a long time. Perfect…

She exhaled heavily before running in after him. She peered in through the door and looked around again. He must've gone upstairs. She walked in, carefully shutting the door and stared at the living room. There were no decorations or anything at all – not even a Christmas tree. She rushed upstairs and turned into his room. Hotaka was sitting on the floor of the balcony, looking out at the snow. She made her way up to him. "Hey…" she said but Hotaka didn't reply. She was about to tell him to at least wrap himself in a blanket but decided against it or he'd get mad again. She sat down beside him and hugged his arm.

He tried to push away but Minako would not let him. "Minako, please just leave me alone."

"Why? I'm not going to say anything if you don't want me to."

He inhaled deeply. "I don't want you to worry about me so just get lost."

"no." she snaked her arms around her neck and kissed his cheek. "I won't leave you, Hotaka. Why can't you just let it go? You know I don't want you to get hurt, bastard."

He didn't want to say anything. His heart was beating like he was running a marathon and he didn't want Minako too close to his chest in case she found out. He quickly shoved her off and walked out. Minako followed. He was going towards the kitchen, telling her to go away the entire time. "Just leave it!" he'd never thought he be saying this to Minako. He never thought he'd ever want so much for her to just go away.

"Why don't you want me to worry about you, Hotaka?"

He didn't answer. Instead, Hotaka flung the fridge door open and pulled out a can, opening it and chucking the contents into his mouth. Minako knew exactly what it was and smacked it out of his hands. "Alcohol? Are you really that stupid?"

Hotaka looked longingly at the can, now surrounded in a puddle of beer. "It was just a drink. Besides, who are you to tell me what I can and can't drink?" he asked, still annoyed that he'd lost most of the beverage.

"Well for starters, I'm the only person willing to take care of you when you're not well! Have you even taken your medicine?"

He looked down to the ground and said nothing. Minako looked to her side one the table to see half a dozen bottles and boxes of medication, untouched. Hotaka turned back to the fridge and pulled out yet another can. Minako snatched it from his hands and slammed it onto the table, forcing their lips together to enjoy another kiss.

It was awful.

His breath stank - no, _reeked_ of alcohol. It was hard not to grimace at the taste and to try to enjoy it. No, she couldn't. Minako pulled away and stared at him, waiting for a reaction. After a while, Hotaka just pushed past her and walked out of the kitchen, grabbing the can on the way. Her face screwed up with annoyance as she followed, going through to the living room where he'd dropped himself on the couch. "Hotaka?" she asked, starting to get a little discouraged by his expression.

Nothing. _I've ruined his Christmas,_ Minako thought, bowing her head in shame.

Hotaka wasn't in the mood for her anymore. He didn't think the girl he loved could piss him off so much. Okay, so he had a heart condition – that didn't mean he wasn't allowed to have a little fun. His heart skipped a beat with regret as he heard the front door click open; Minako was leaving and he was just going to sit there and let her go. No matter how much he wanted to, his body wouldn't let him get up and stop her. It was like even his free will had been affected by that Katsu guy. Hotaka reached into his trouser pocket and sighed deeply with both guilt and rage which was never a good combination because he couldn't convince himself if he was right or wrong in his decision. Not true – he knew he was wrong and wasn't making an attempt to make things right. He suddenly felt something cold and sharp yet soft smack his head.

He turned around and froze. "Bastard!" Minako screamed from the entrance. "you say you love me and you don't even bother to come after me?" but she didn't look or even sound angry at him – in fact, she wore a smile on her face… and held another snowball in her hand. She threw it at Hotaka but he was ready this time and managed to dodge it.

He stared at her in confusion. Why the hell did she come back after that? All Minako did from then was smile. When his senses came back to him, Hotaka jumped over the sofa and went to run after her, playfully. He wasn't going to let her get away with that. Minako ran outside but before Hotaka reached the door, he stopped and looked at the hat scarf and fat jacket she'd wanted him to wear earlier. All he wore to keep warm before was a thin jacket and gloves. He shook his head, forgetting about what Minako wanted him to wear and put on the usual things. He got to the door frame when he was hit in the face with another snowball.

He wiped his face and found Minako about thirty yards ahead of him, laughing. Hotaka couldn't help but crack a smile. _What the fuck was I thinking? I love her!_ He rushed out and bent down to gather a ball of snow but before he could, he was struck again, making him drop the soft ice. She wouldn't even give him a chance to be puzzled by what happened. And before he knew it, he had been shoved onto his back, feeling Minako's lips on his. She pulled away and didn't frown at the taste, just grinned at him. Hotaka stared at her, completely baffled. Before he could ask her why she was acting like this, Minako grabbed a handful of snow and stuffed it down his shirt. His reaction is best left to the imagination, not words can ever describe how hilarious he looked trying to get the snow out of the shirt.

Minako had jumped off long before. She wasn't quite sure if this was making him feel any better but it was God damn funny. She nearly fell over in stitches and couldn't regain control of herself in time and Hotaka snatched her, causing them both to fall to the floor but before they hit, he turned so that she fell on him. He didn't want her to get hurt. Hotaka had a hold of her wrists to prevent her from repeating her previous actions. She looked at him and let out a weak laugh, dropping beside him and resting he head on his chest. But she wasn't going to complain about how incredibly fast his heart was racing.

The snow was freezing and numbing his back but he didn't say anything. Hotaka sighed. "I still have to give you your Christmas present." He reached into his pocket and pulled out to her a little black box. He removed the lid and held out the other half to her, containing a small silver ring. Minako guessed it was an engagement ring by how expensive it looked. Diamonds were encrusted on the top, white and blue. "Do you like it?" he asked.

Staring at it a moment longer, her face suddenly plastered with frustration. She smacked the little box out of his hand, sending it flying a few metres away from them. Hotaka felt his heart being pierced by a dagger. _Stab_. "How many fucking times? I don't need or want a stupid ring!" she yelled at him. Seeing his face made her calm down a little. Minako sighed and leant back onto his chest. "Hotaka, do you promise to love me forever?"

"E-excuse me?" he has, slightly confused as to why she'd ask that.

The cold was getting to her so she cuddled Hotaka closer to keep warm, not wanting to say anything else. "Just answer my question, Hotaka; do you promise to love me forever?"

_Stab_. "Well, o-of course I do. You _know_ I do. Why bother even asking?" he wasn't quite sure if it was his nerves causing the pain in his chest or his condition. Either way it hurt like hell.

Minako shut her eyes and sighed deeply. "Because," she began. "I want to be with you forever. No ring can symbolize that and you know it."

Hotaka side-smiled and kissed her hair. "I'm sorry, Minako. I love you."

Minako wanted to tell him to shut up again but mentally protested against it. She knew he meant well and couldn't help but let it slip. "I love you, too, Hotaka." Oh hell… that wasn't what she was supposed to say.

The strange thing was she didn't really know if she meant it. Unfortunately, Hotaka knew that. But he decided to enjoy it anyway, even if it wasn't true.

_Stab_.

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You've got to love me – actually you probably hate me. You know what, as I was fantasising this after I'd finished a mock exam early in school, I got to the 'I love you, too' part and guess what happens? RRRRRRRIIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGG!

How unfair?! Maybe I should write another story where Minako is in the Spirit World and is arranged to be married? And only Hotaka can stop it? And Taro can do nothing because it's tradition?

Okay, I'm getting carried away again. Tell me what you thought of the story coz this might be the last you see of me! Well, unless you're reading one of my other fics that is… Love you all!


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